Tabor Baptist Church

• A good passage and a difficult passage
• All sins will be forgiven, whoever bad
• But blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven
• Example of the man - saved from darkest sin
• Have you ever thought 'have I committed the unpardonable sin?'
• 1 John 1:9 - "If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins"

What it isn't

• Not a hard word, curse or derisive word against Jesus (Matt 12:32)
• Example of John Bunion
• A wide promise - irrelevant of background, depth of sin, etc
• Not major moral failure
• David - "take not your Holy Spirit from me"
• Had committed adultery, murder, etc
• "Blessed in the man whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered"
• Not a feeling that God has abandoned you
• I don't feel like a child of God - Rom 8:16
• Christians can go through a time of
  depression, of real foreboding, of real dark times
• Not a loss of feeling of comfort or love
  from God
• Example of Christian Hymns (William Williams and Charles Wesley)
• Not a failure to break with a besetting sin
• 1 John 3:4-9 - Speaks of someone who lives in the practice of sin (i.e. are unsaved)
• You try and overcome it but fall down
• The fact that you are struggling with it and seeking to overcome it is surely proof that you are a child of God

What it is

• Context:
• Jesus is in Capernaum ministering to the people
• The people have seen the wonders of God
• The scribes accused Jesus as being of Beelzebub
• To call someone
  Beelzebub was an insult (lord of the dung)
• They then accused Jesus of being the prince of demons
• They took everything beautiful that Jesus had done, all that was Holy and pure and ascribed it to the devil
• Matt 9:32-44
• Matt 12:32
• Mark 3:30 - "Because they said He has an unclean spirit"
• Because they attributed to Him the power of darkness
• Because they said that all that God, He and the Holy Spirit was doing was of the devil
• Because they said He had an unclean spirit
• A persistent refusal to believe
• Heb 2:3-4
• If the Israelites
  rebelled against Moses Law then they would be judged
• How much more shall we
  be judged having seen the wonders of God
• Heb 3:12 - Unbelief from an evil heart
• Heb 6:4-8 - A warning
• Unable to repent again
• They have been amongst
  Christians, heard the word, been moved by the Spirit, seen the power of
  God
• They have been a
  partaker of the Holy Spirit - this does not mean born again
• This is someone who is wholesale giving up on Christ, making a final refusal to accept Him
• Not someone who is struggling or falling away
• Heb 10:26-31
• v39 - encouraging to Christians: we do not refuse Christ but believe
• Heb 12:17
• What is it? - A clear and utter rejection of The Lord Jesus Christ, turning apostate

• How do we encourage others?
• Remind people of Paul
• Remind people of the grace of God
• If people are concerned, it shows that they probably are Christians
• Remind people that all sins will be forgiven

• What to do if lacking assurance?
• Turn to the promises - "All sins will be forgiven the sons of men"