By way of introduction to John chapter 16 here this morning, John chapter 16. A couple of weeks ago I started a study in our Sunday school hour on the Holy Spirit. The fact that he's a person, he's not just a force, he's a person of the Godhead. I want for us to consider here today as God, of course, we can sin against the Holy Ghost, sin against the Holy Spirit. I believe those names are used interchangeably. But notice with me, John chapter 16, verses seven and following by way of introduction here this morning. John chapter 16, verse seven, as Jesus is talking to his disciples about the fact that he's going away here soon, notice it says in verse seven and following, nevertheless, I tell you the truth, it is expedient for you that I go away. It's good for you that I go away, for if I go not away, the comforter will not come unto you, but if I depart, I will send him unto you. And when he has come, notice the ministry the Spirit of God is going to have here. And when He has come, He will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment. Notice why He's going to reprove the world of sin. Because they believe not on Me. Notice that's the primary thing. Of righteousness, because I go to My Father, and ye see Me no more. And of judgment, because the Prince of this world is judged. Now, I want you to consider that when we're preaching the Gospel, we must emphasize unbelief. You know, there's times where it's like, you know, sometimes we get a little, get a little zealous as far as our presentation of the gospel and we start talking, naming sins. I want you to consider, as we start naming generally sins, people will say, well, I've not committed that sin, I've not committed that sin, I've not, so then they don't see the need for a savior. But notice what it says here that the spirit will reprove the world of, notice, of sin, Notice why? Because they believe not on me. I believe that's the very first thing we need to emphasize with an unsaved person is their unbelief. If they have not placed their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, notice they're still living in sin, they're still living in their unbelief. Again, we see the ministry here of the Holy Spirit. Again, the Spirit of God convicts of sin. As I mentioned, as God, there are sins that we can commit against the Holy Spirit of God. Notice with me Isaiah 63. Isaiah 63. Here's one of the sins that's mentioned in the Old Testament. Isaiah, chapter 63, this is one and following here. Isaiah, chapter 63, verse 1. I want you to consider here, first of all, that the Spirit of God can be vexed. I want you to notice here the cause of this vexing of the Spirit of God. It says in Isaiah 63, verse 1, it says, who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Basra, This that is glorious in his apparel, traveling in the greatness of his strength, I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save. Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the wine vat. And of course, this is a reference to the Lord Jesus Christ and his coming judgment. I have trodden the winepress alone, and of the people there was none with me, for I will tread them in mine anger. God is a God of love. That's what the liberal says. Yes, God is a God of love. God has loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. But notice he's also an angry God. I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury. And their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment. Of course, again, this is a reference to the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ in judgment. For the day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come. And I looked, and there was none to help, and I wondered that there was none to uphold. Therefore, mine own arm brought salvation unto me, and my fury it upheld me. And I will tread down the people in mine anger, and make them drunk in my fury, and I will bring down their strength to the earth. I will mention the lovingkindnesses of..." Wait a minute. Lovingkindnesses of the Lord? It's talking about the anger of the Lord and judgment. Notice here, I will mention the lovingkindnesses of the Lord. and the praises of the Lord, according to all that the Lord hath bestowed on us, and the great goodness toward the house of Israel, which hath bestowed on them according to his mercies, according to the multitude of his lovingkindnesses." By the way, Romans 2 says, the goodness of God should lead us to repentance. But notice it says, for he said, surely they are my people, children that will not lie. So he was their Savior. in all their affliction he was afflicted. Notice when they were afflicted because of judgment God was afflicted. It hurt, it grieved God to have to do this to his chosen people. The angel of his presence, I believe the Lord Jesus Christ himself, saved them. In his love and his pity he redeemed them and he bared them and carried them all the days of old. Notice this in verse 10. But they rebelled and vexed His Holy Spirit, capital S, the Holy Spirit. Therefore, He was turned to be their enemy. and he fought against them. How serious this would be? Here's God's chosen nation, even as we saw in the Sunday school hour. God established Israel to be a theocracy. Here's God's chosen nation, the nation of Israel. God has done all kinds of good things for them. His loving kindness, His grace, His goodness. God has done all kinds of things for them. But notice, it says they rebelled against His rule, His reign. They did not want to obey their God. Notice, in that rebellion, They vexed His Holy Spirit. I want you to think about this. God has given us commands, especially in the New Testament for the New Testament Church Age. When I refuse to obey what God has to say, notice what happens there. I vex His Holy Spirit. Rebellion is a vexation of the Spirit of God. Related to that, I want you to consider also another passage. Matthew chapter 12. The Bible also talks about the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. Blasphemy against the Spirit. Matthew chapter 12 and verse 22 and following. Sometimes this is referred to as the unpardonable sin. Let me just say this, I believe there's one unpardonable sin, that's unbelief at the time of death. When somebody does not believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, at the moment of death, their eternity is fixed. I want you to consider, though Jesus is dealing with unbelievers in this case, I want you to understand that as we begin reading this, Matthew 12, verse 22 and following. So what are we talking about as far as the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit? It says in verse 22, "...then it 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." So somebody could not speak, somebody was blind. Notice here, Jesus Christ healed them. Of course, He had the power to do that as the Son of God. But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, this fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub, the prince of the devils. Now Jesus knew their thoughts, so they should have realized, as Jesus knows their thoughts, they should have realized he's the son of God. He's not a mere man. I don't know what you're thinking. Sometimes you can read faces and wonder what, you think you might know what you're thinking, but what you think about, I can't read your thoughts. But Lord Jesus Christ can. Lord Jesus Christ is reading someone's thoughts. Maybe that, I wish that preacher would stop. Again, God knows what you're thinking. I don't. Jesus Christ knew their thoughts. Again, there are many things that should have told them, this is not a mere man. But yet again, they stayed in their unbelief. Jesus knew their thoughts and said unto them. All right, so here's practical teaching, practical understanding of this. Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation. And every city or house divided against itself shall not stand. If Satan cast out Satan, again, this is common sense in my thinking. If Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself. How shall then his kingdom stand? All right, so if I'm casting out by Beelzebub Satan, how is Satan's kingdom gonna stand if I'm casting out by Satan? Again, that's common sense. But again, he confronts them in their unbelief. And if I, by Beelzebub, cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? I've never heard you say that your children are cast out by Beelzebub. So because I'm casting out evil spirits, I'm casting out by Satan, Beelzebub, but your children do it and they aren't, therefore they shall be your judges. But if I cast out devils by the spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is coming to you. Or else how can one man enter into a strong man's house? and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man, and then he will spoil his house. He that is not with me is against me, and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad. Wherefore I say unto you, in light of what I just said, 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 a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him. but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world nor in the world to come. Now, I want you to consider one reason why. Remember what we saw in John 16? John 16, Jesus says that the Spirit of God, the Comforter, has come to judge the world, reprove the world of what? Of sin. Now, if you're speaking against the one who's gonna judge the world of sin, reprove the world of sin, Do you think you're going to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ if you're resisting or speaking against the one who's going to bring conviction into your heart? Again, I believe that's part of the reason why. Notice another passage related to this. There's a phrase I want you to see in this parallel passage. Mark 3. Mark 3. There's a slightly different wording here I want you to see in Mark 3. That's why I say the only unpardonable sin is unbelief at the time of death. Literally, I believe what Jesus is saying to these religious leaders, or saying that, yeah, you're casting out devils by the devil, by Beelzebub. Basically, what he's saying to them is that you're in your unbelief. As long as you continue in that unbelief, resisting, speaking against the Holy Spirit of God, you cannot be saved. I want you to notice this in now. In Mark chapter three, I forgot my verse here, verse 22 and following. The scribes which came down from Jerusalem said, he hath Beelzebub, and by the prince of the devils casteth he out devils. And he called to them and said unto them in parables, how can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. If a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand. 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, then he'll spoil his house. Verily I say unto you, all sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewithsoever they shall blaspheme. But notice this phrase here in verse 29. But he that shall blaspheme or speak against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but notice this, but is in danger of eternal damnation, because they said he hath an unclean spirit. So I want you to notice there it says, hath never forgiven us, but is in danger. So that tells us that they could avoid this eternal damnation. I want you to see this. The reason why they were committing the unpardonable sin is because they were persistent in their unbelief. They continued to speak against the one who would reprove them of sin. So therefore, they could not believe because they said, he hath an unclean spirit. So again, as far as the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, If you're unsaved today, you better get saved. Let me just say it that way. Because somebody who persists in unbelief can be speaking against the Holy Spirit of God and is in danger of eternal judgment. That's pretty serious. And let me just say this as we're going to see that the Holy Spirit can be resisted. One of the sins against the Spirit of God is resisting Him. The longer we resist the devil, resist the spirit of God, I should say, the more foothold the devil has in our hearts and our lives. The longer we resist, that's why a young person needs to place their faith in Christ. Well, I'll wait until I get older. Well, yeah, then you get to your rebellious teenage years and you don't want anything to do with it. Yeah, and then you get into your younger years and, oh, I'm gonna work, I'm gonna make some money. You don't want anything to do with it. and you get hardened and hardened and hardened in your heart, you get older and older and older, and it gets harder and harder and harder to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. If there's not a time when you can look back and say, I placed my faith in Jesus Christ and Him alone, today is the day of salvation. Consider another sin, lying and tempting the Spirit of God. Notice Acts chapter five, Acts chapter five. If you've been in church any time, you'll recognize this as Ananias and Sapphira. Now I used to preach that Ananias and Sapphira were believers in Christ. The more I've studied this, I really believe that Ananias and Sapphira were tares among wheat. Jesus said that there would be tares. And I'll point that out here as we go through this passage. Notice it says in verse one, Acts chapter five, verse one. But a certain man named Ananias with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession. and get back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, knowing about it, and brought a certain part and laid it at the apostle's feet. Now, I've mentioned this before, but there are some preachers who say that, God'll kill you if you don't give your tithe. That's not what this is all about. God will chasten and so on if we don't give what's rightly due to him. But that's not what this is about. Notice here, they've sold a piece of property and they kept part of it back, but they're bringing it to the apostles' feet. They're giving it to the church and saying, we're giving it all. So let's use, let's draw some numbers. Let's say they bought the, or I'm sorry, they sold the property for $100,000. They gave 50,000 of it to the church, and they're saying, we're gonna give it all, whatever you need, whoever has a need of it. They said they're giving it all, but in reality, they kept part of it back. Notice it says in verse three, for whatever reason, God allowed Peter to know what they were giving. But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost? Notice this sin here, lying to the Holy Ghost. Had to keep back part of the price of the land. Was it remained? Was it not thine own? It was possession of land that you owned. After it was sold, was it not in thine own power? You had a right to do with whatever you want to. Why are you lying about this? Why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? Thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God. Notice the Holy Spirit is a member of the Godhead. He has lied to the Holy Spirit of God. And Ananias, hearing these words, fell down and gave up the ghost, in great fear, came on all them that heard these things." Now, let me ask you, if God dealt this way with us all the time, how many of us would still be alive today? Let me just point out something here. There are other forms of lying than what Ananias did. Hypocrisy, by the way, is one form of lying. I know how it works. You live for the devil during the week, and boy, you get all dressed up for church on Sunday. That's a lie. There are people who are living a lie. I wonder if God dealt with us the way he dealt with Ananias. How many of us would drop, how many dropped dead right in church? Notice it says in verse six, the young man arose, wound him up, and carried him out, and buried him. By the way, there's a lot of people In modern-day Christianity, we're pretending to be Christians. It's all a show. There's about space of three hours later, about three hours later after this, when his wife, not knowing what was done, came in. She comes in. It took a little longer to get ready for church, so she finally made it to church. She came in the second chariot. They had money, so they had two chariots probably. So she comes in finally after she's ready for church. She missed Sunday school that day, So she comes in, she doesn't know what's happened to her husband. Notice it says, verse eight, and Peter answered unto her, tell me whether ye sold the land for so much. Notice here, Peter's putting her to the test. He's giving her an opportunity to come clean on this. And she said, yea, for so much. Did you sell this land for $50,000? Yeah, yeah, that's what we sold. Why did God tell me you sold it for 100,000 then? Who knows, maybe Peter knew about the mount just because somebody in the church bought the property. I don't know. But obviously, God showed him how much they gave. Hey, for so much. Notice here the other sin related to lying to the Spirit of God. Then Peter said unto her, how is it that ye have agreed together to tempt or test the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out. Now, I want you to consider tempting of the Spirit. When we put God to the test to see if He's going to judge us, we're tempting the Spirit of God. Remember, Jesus said to Satan, thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. You know, when I am persistent in my sin, I'm tempting the Lord. I wonder if God's gonna judge me. Do we really wanna test the Lord? We've already seen He's the God of anger. What it says here, You're tempting the Lord. You're conspiring together to tempt the Lord. It says in verse 10, that she fell down straightaway. She just dropped dead right there on the floor. She dropped dead straightaway at his feet and yielded up the ghost. And the young man came in and found her dead and carrying her forth, buried her by her husband. Notice this verse 11. This should be the response for us. And great fear came upon all the church and upon as many as heard these things. Wow, people die in church, in that church. I wonder, are we afraid of what God could do in His chastening hand? One of the things that I believe is missing in America today is a theophobia. We have all kinds of phobias that people have. Do we have a fear of God? And I'm not just talking about the reverential fear. Because if I have a reverential fear, then I'm going to live rightly. But do we have a fear of God's judgment? Lying and tempting the Spirit of God are sins against the Spirit of God, also resisting the Spirit. Notice Acts 7. Acts 7. In this context, we see that Stephen is preaching to the Jewish leaders. Notice Acts 7, verse 51 and following. As he's closing out his message here, it's essentially a sermon, but it's also part of his defense before them. In fact, let's look at a little bit of the context here. As we look at verse 44, our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as he had appointed, speaking unto Moses, that he should make it according to the fashion that he had seen, which also our fathers that came after brought in with Jesus, Modern Bibles, by the way, change that to Joshua. Brought in with Jesus. I believe Jesus is a correct translation of this. It was brought in with Jesus into the possession of the Gentiles. Jehovah is salvation. That's what Joshua means. Literally, he's weaving history into the account of the Lord Jesus Christ. The possession of the Gentiles, the Canaanites, whom God drove out before the face of our fathers unto the days of David. who found favor before God and desired to find a tabernacle for the God of Jacob. But Solomon built him an house. Howbeit the most high dwelleth not in temples made with hands. As saith the prophet, heaven is my throne and earth is my footstool. What house shall you build me, saith the Lord? Or what is the place of my rest? Hath not my hand made all these things? What Stephen is doing here is pointing out that God is not bound to a particular place. Literally, the Jewish leaders would worship the temple. In fact I see that a little bit in what the disciples do as far as Jesus showing him the buildings of the temple. Behold master what buildings are here. Jesus says you're impressed with this. There's coming a day he could have added an AD 70 not one stone is going to be left upon another. Literally the Roman army is going to come in and destroy this place. I wonder how many Independent Baptists are impressed with buildings. These multi-million dollar buildings, supposedly to the glory of God, in reality it's in glory to the bank that's loaned them the millions of dollars. And when the economy goes out, you know what they do to pay for those buildings? They wind and dine the rich Christian businessmen. I've seen it happen. I want you to think about this. So many are impressed with buildings. Israel was. This Temple of Herod, It's not even a believer that gave him the rebuilt temple as far as this day. Notice how Stephen closes this out then. It says in verse 51, ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears. Notice the sin against the Holy Spirit of God here. You do always resist the Holy Ghost. As your fathers did, so do ye. I want you to consider as the Spirit of God convicts or approves the world of sin, we can start resisting the Spirit of God. How often do you silence the Holy Spirit's conviction? You see, what the Holy Spirit wants to do is bring the Word of God to our minds and our conscience. He wants to point out some things that are not right. Notice, resisting the Holy Ghost. It says, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost. As your fathers did, so do ye. The longer we resist the Spirit of God, the easier it is for us to say no. And the easier it is for us to say no, the closer we get to God's judgment. It's pretty serious business. Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? And they have slain them which showed before the coming of the just one, and of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers. They resisted the Spirit of God to the point of killing the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross, crucifying Him. who have received the law by the disposition of angels and have not kept it." You know, you received God's law, but you're not keeping the law. And when they heard these things, they were cut to the heart. That's a phrase related to conviction. They knew he was telling the truth. It says, they gnashed on him with their teeth. That doesn't mean that they're chewing on him, biting on him. Literally, this is something, they're burying their teeth. They were so angry, they were burying their teeth in anger and speaking out at Stephen. So they gnashed on him with their teeth. But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven and saw the glory of God. And Jesus, standing on the right hand of God, and said, Behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God. Then they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears. I can't hear you. I can't hear you. This is like big old babies, big old brats. Notice it says, They're crying out, they're covering their ears. They cried with a loud voice and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, and cast him out of the city. Notice they could resist the Spirit of God enough to not just crucify the Lord Jesus Christ, but to kill one of his spokesmen. They cast him out of the city and stoned him, and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet whose name was Saul, Saul of Tarsus. We see later in the book of Acts. And they stoned Stephen. Notice he's calling upon God, saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And he kneeled down and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep. I want you to consider, even as it's mentioned here, of Saul. Saul could not forget this scene. And the Spirit of God kept driving that, and driving that into his heart. He could not forget how Stephen died, how that Stephen died similar to the Lord Jesus Christ, resisting the Spirit of God. Notice what we mean, John 12. Is the Spirit of God trying to do something in your heart today? Or even recently? Are you resisting the Spirit of God? Are you resisting what the Holy Spirit wants to do in your life? It's pretty dangerous to continue to resist. John chapter 12, verse 37. I believe what we're going to see in scripture here as we look at a few other passages is that sometimes we can resist to the point of being unable to believe. Think about that. That's why speaking against or blaspheming the Holy Ghost, that's why it's often referred to as the unpardonable sin. Because as long as I persist in speaking against the Spirit of God, then I will not believe. Again, the same is true for resisting Him. Notice it says in verse 37, John 12, verse 37. Though He had done so many miracles before them, if I remember correctly, the Gospels record like 36 miracles. Now, how many miracles would it take for us to really believe if we understood who was doing it? One. And yet they had 36 miracles that are written, but there's probably hundreds of miracles that are not recorded. Though He had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on Him. That the saying of Esaias, Isaiah the prophet, might be fulfilled, which he spake, Lord, who hath believed our report? And to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed? Notice this statement. Therefore they could not believe, because then Esaias said again, He hath blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, that they should not see with their ears, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them. These things said Esaias when he saw his glory and spake of him." Isaiah chapter six. I want you to notice the wording again here. It says, these miracles were done, yet they believed not on Him. They were persistent in their unbelief. Because of that, notice what God does here. They could not believe, why? Because God eventually blinds their eyes and hardens their heart. Here's the process that takes place. When I resist the Holy Spirit of God in unbelief, then God says, all right, you're determined to do that, then I will harden your heart. You remember Pharaoh? That we studied in the book of Exodus? Who is the Lord that I should hear him? Who is the Lord that I should let Israel go? We found out who the Lord was with 10 plagues on Egypt. Who is the Lord? He found out who Jehovah was. And I want you to think, just remind you that just as many times as it says that the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart, it says Pharaoh hardened his heart. Anytime there was respite, recovery after a plague, it says Pharaoh hardened his heart yet once more. That's a pretty dangerous place to be in, hardening our hearts. Because then God says, OK, you want to harden your heart? You want to resist? I will harden your heart. Someone can resist to the point of being unable to believe. Let's read Hebrews chapter 3. Hebrews chapter 3. Again, the God the Holy Spirit is a person. He's a person of the Godhead. And because he's a person of the Godhead, we can actually sin against the Spirit of God. Hebrews chapter three, let's just look at a part of this passage here, verse seven. Hebrews chapter three, verse seven. Wherefore, as the Holy Ghost saith, today if you will hear His voice. All right, so if you're hearing His voice, the Holy Spirit of God speaking. Now how does the Holy Spirit of God speak to us today? With His completed Word of God, right? God the Holy Spirit gave this by inspiration of God. It's preserved for us. So as the Holy Ghost speaks today, if you will hear his voice, harden not your hearts as in the day of provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness. Notice Israel is given as an example for us. When your fathers tempted me, proved me and saw my works 40 years, they saw the miracles, they saw the plagues, they saw how God provided for them in the wilderness. Notice it says, wherefore I was grieved with that generation and said, they do always err in their heart. Notice they're constantly in error. And they have not known my ways. So I swear my wrath, they shall not enter my rest. Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief. Notice he's talking to brethren. Lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God. Notice we can resist the Spirit of God to the point where we actually depart, apostatize, from the living God. That's why it's so essential. That's why I say again this morning, if there's not a time when you have placed your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, today is the day of salvation. I'm going to use an illustration. From time to time I talk about repeating this prayer thing. I was listening to preacher that I listened to quite a bit. He said he was at this preaching meeting. This big-name evangelist preached for like an hour and 45 minutes. And then they had this long, drawn-out invitation at the end. Well, during this invitation, the evangelist was calling pastors that he knew in the congregation forward to deal with people who were coming under conviction. Well, this preacher that I listened to said he dealt with this woman that The evangelist said, come and talk to her. So as he's talking to her at the altar, why are you coming today? She says, I want my boyfriend to return to me. She was not under conviction. She was just wanting her boyfriend to come back. Not going out looking for women down at the bar. So he kept trying to bring back to the subject. Oh, I just want my boyfriend to come back to me. After dealing with her for 10 minutes, he realized she was not ready to get saved. So the evangelist comes over and says, brother, have you gotten her in yet? No, she's not wanting to believe today. She's just, hey, preacher, preacher, over here. Come on, get this woman in here. Within two minutes, she repeated a prayer And the preacher said, we got her in, we got her in. Let me ask you, was she saved that day? In reality, you know what happened? Her heart was heartened even further to be truly responding in repentance and faith to the Lord Jesus Christ. I don't know how many times I've seen this over the years. Somebody who's repeated a prayer. and that they deal with doubts and so on and so forth. It's not repeating a prayer that gets us to heaven. That's a religious act. That's no different than the Catholics praying a prayer and thinking they're gonna go to heaven. What is salvation? It's repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. That's what Paul says. He testified in the city of Ephesus. Repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. Let me just say it this way. Somebody who repeats that prayer and continues to live in their sin, nothing ever changed. No salvation came to that person's heart. If God comes to live in my heart, something is gonna change. I want you to think about this. So many times, so many ways, somebody gets hardened to the gospel. Take heed, brethren. that there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief and departing from the living God. I want you to see the example of this in Israel. Jeremiah chapter five. Jeremiah chapter five. The Holy Spirit of God can be resisted to the point of not being able to respond to his reproving and convicting work. And I want you to consider, again, that dangerous place, that dangerous line that we can cross. When we are persistent in our unbelief and sin, the Holy Spirit can no longer deal with us. Jeremiah chapter five, verse three. Jeremiah five, verse three. O Lord, are not thine eyes upon the truth? Thou hast stricken them, but they have not grieved. You think about this. God was sending judgment upon Judah, but they weren't grieved for their sin. Thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction. They have made their faces harder than a rock. They refuse to return. Notice again this point of rebellion and resistance so that they refuse to return. Again, there's a line that somebody can cross that makes it almost impossible to return back to the Lord. Again, this was God's chosen nation. Also another passage, Jeremiah chapter six. Again, this is just a sampling In fact, do you read the Old Testament prophets? There's times I've read the Old Testament prophets that say, oh God, be merciful on America. God meant what he said. I really believe that Judah and the Northern Kingdom could have avoided God's judgment. But they crossed that line. And I want you to think about this in an individual Christian's life, individual unbeliever's life. There can be a line that somebody crosses as they're resisting the Holy Spirit's reproving work. There can be a line that we cross and we're not able to return. Pretty serious line to cross there. Jeremiah chapter six, verse 16. Jeremiah chapter six, verse 16. Thus saith the Lord, stand ye in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths. You know, most people don't want the old paths anymore. They don't want the old, old-fashioned ways. Ah, gee, that church is just so old-fashioned. I want to go to a church that has the new music and the new Bibles. That church is just, I'm proud, I'm glad. Maybe proud is not the right word. But I'm glad to be an old-fashioned Old Paths preacher today. Why don't you notice this? They were told to ask for the old paths, whereas the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. I know how some of these preachers, sleep at night. Seriously. I don't know how some of these preachers sleep at night, how they have rest for their soul, if they really truly read this Bible. Leading a church into compromise. But they said, we will not walk therein. Notice this rebellion here. Also, I sent watchmen over you saying, hearken to the sound of the trumpet. But they said, we will not hearken. Oh, that preacher gets loud. The Bible says I'm supposed to lift up my voice as a trumpet, calling people to repentance. One more passage here in Jeremiah. Jeremiah 8, verse 4 and following. Jeremiah 8, verse 4. You think about all the prophets that God sent to Judah in particular. All these prophets, it's that they still went into the judgment of God. 70 years of captivity. Notice verse 4. Moreover, thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord, shall they fall and not arise? Shall they turn away and not return? Why then is this people of Jerusalem slidden back by a perpetual backsliding? Think about that picture there. They're backsliding by a perpetual backsliding. They hold fast to seat, they refuse to return. I hearkened and heard, but they spake not aright. No man repented him of his wickedness, saying, what have we done? Everyone turn to his course as the horse rusheth into the battle. They're rushing full speed ahead into their wickedness. As we close, I want you to notice a couple passages in Proverbs. Proverbs chapter one. Proverbs chapter one. Are you resisting the Spirit of God in any area here today? I don't know how else to appeal to you today, if you are. Just to give you the warnings of scripture. Proverbs 1, verse 20. This is wisdom personified. Wisdom crieth without. She uttereth her voice in the streets. Of course, this is speaking of God's wisdom here. She crieth in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates. In the city she uttereth her words, saying, How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning and fools hate knowledge. Turn you at my reproof. Why is it that we don't like reproof? I don't like to be told what I've done wrong. Notice wisdom says, turn at my reproof, my correction. Behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you. I will make known my words unto you. Notice the result of this resistance of this this cry because I have called and ye refused I have stretched out my hand and no man regarded but ye have said it not my counsel did want anything to do with my counsel and would not of my reproof I also will laugh at your calamity I will mock when your fear cometh I wonder how many times God laughs this is God's wisdom speaking Wonder how many times God laughs in heaven at the problems people bring upon them because of their own rebellion. Notice, when your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind, when distress and anguish cometh upon you, all these problems are coming because of my bad choices. Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer. They shall seek me early, but they shall not find me. For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord. They would not of my counsel, they despised all my reproof. Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices. For the turning of the way of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them. But notice this promise, whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil. One final verse, Proverbs 29. Averbs 29, verse one. He that being often reproved, hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and not without remedy. Let those words sink in. Often reproved. What did we see at the beginning? What does the Holy Spirit do? He reproves the world of sin. I wonder how many times people have heard the gospel, and heard the gospel, and heard the gospel, and they refuse to respond in faith. He, being often reproved, hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and not without remedy. Notice it gets beyond, it gets to the point where it's beyond a remedy. You know, the person who resists in the gospel will spend forever in hell. Think about that. Often reproved, hardness in sin. Young people, I want you to listen very carefully to me. From what I understand, at least in most cases in this church family, the parents and grandparents in this church want to do what is right according to the word of God. And if they're trying to correct something in your life, You better listen. Because notice what happens here. The more you resist this correction, this reproof, notice what happens. When you harden your neck, I'm not going to do it. When you harden your neck, notice what happens. You'll suddenly be destroyed. And the consequences will come. I think of some of the things, the choices I made over the years that I knew was not right. Either I had somebody warning me with Scriptures or the Holy Spirit of God was speaking to my heart. Decided to do some of those things anyway and I suffered the consequences. You see, the Spirit of God is given to us almost like a warning light. Pay attention to this, pay attention to this. The Holy Spirit's even trying to say, listen to the preacher, listen to the preacher, listen to the Word of God. I wonder how many young people have wrecked and ruined their lives needlessly. If they had just listened. You see, you can resist the Holy Spirit of God to the point where you cross that line and you run head on, like a horse rushing into the battle. You resist to the point where you say, I'm going to... BAM! Destroyed without remedy. That's what the Bible says. You cross a line when there is no more resistance holding you back. You just run headlong into destruction. That's what the Bible says. Will you stand with me here this morning? Is there somebody here today that does not know Christ as Savior? Talk about eternal destruction. If you don't know Christ as Savior today, today is the day of salvation because you can cross that line when the Holy Spirit says, I'm not gonna resist anymore. I'm not going to reprove anymore. I'm not going to reprove anymore." And you get to the point where you don't even look back. Place your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible talks about eternal destruction. Do you know Christ as Savior today? I didn't ask, did you pray a prayer? I didn't ask that. I didn't ask if you were baptized. I didn't ask any of those things. That's not salvation. Salvation is faith in what the Lord Jesus Christ has done for us. What about us as believers today? I believe there is some element whereby we can resist. Israel, God's chosen nation, resisted God, resisted the Spirit. Let's sing.