The past Sunday Pastor taught on “What’s the Answer – what is the unforgivable sin?” using Matthew 12:24-32. Today, Pastor digs deeper and takes a look at Mark 3:22-29 – which also talks about the “unforgivable sin.” 

In Mark 3:22-26 we read that the teachers of the law say that Jesus is possessed by the devil, doing healings in the devil’s power and doing what the devil wants. But Jesus responds by sharing parables and asking how can Satan drive out Satan? A house divided cannot stand. And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand.  Jesus explains how illogical their accusations are.

Jesus goes on in verse 27 saying that in fact no one can enter a strong man’s house without first tying him up. Then his house can be plundered.

Jesus is not denying the devil is strong, but He’s saying He is stronger!  He is challenging these men to think things through, to think about what they are saying. Jesus is encouraging them to listen not to their prejudices, but to the Holy Spirit’s testimony, that of what is spoken in scripture and the things that Jesus is doing and what the Spirit is revealing about who Jesus is.

In verses 28-29 Jesus continues, “Truly I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin.” 

He doesn’t say they have done that sin, but reminds them that is the path they are on. Jesus tells them that ALL and any sins and slander can be forgiven, except the persistent refusal to listen to the Holy Spirit. Meaning never letting the Spirit in or listening to Him. The Spirit will transform our lives, Jesus will heal us, forgive us, and bring us into His eternal kingdom.

Jesus’ power and the Holy Spirit can deliver us from the bondage of the enemy and give us freedom through Jesus’ saving power at the cross and resurrection because Jesus HAS bound the strong man!

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Today’s question is one that Pastor says has been the question asked with the most fear.  Other ways this question is asked:
    ⁃    What is the unforgivable sin?
    ⁃    What is the sin against the Holy Spirit?
    ⁃    How can I be sure I haven’t done this?
    ⁃    If I have done this is there any hope?
    ⁃    How do I avoid the unforgivable sin?

Matthew 12:31-32 Jesus says, “And so I tell you, every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.”

What is that sin? Let’s start by looking at the context …
    ⁃    Jesus was preaching and healing. Religious authorities saw Jesus as a threat. Jesus heals a paralyzed man and the religious leaders say Jesus is blaspheming because He told the man your sins are forgiven, take up your mat and walk. And the religious leadership are angry and they continue to get angrier. Matthew 9:3
    ⁃    Matthew, one of Jesus’ disciples, hosts a dinner, invites his tax collector friends and Jesus attends too. The religious leaders accuse Jesus of “eating with tax collectors and sinners.” Matthew 9:11
    ⁃    Jesus heals a demon possessed man and the religious leaders say Jesus was able to heal the man through demonic powers. Matthew 9:34
    ⁃    Jesus and disciples are walking in the grain fields on the Sabbath Day, picking and eating grain and the religious leaders say they are working on the day of rest, which is unlawful. Matthew 12:2
    ⁃    Jesus heals a demon possessed man and now the religious leaders plot to kill Jesus. Matthew 12:14
    ⁃    Jesus heals a man and they say that Jesus healed by the power of Beelzebul (the devil) Matthew 12:24

It is at this point that we continue with the verses just before our text for the day on the unforgivable sin. We read in Matthew 12:25-28 “Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand? (Meaning how can I be healing from demons by using demons?) And if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your people drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. But if it is by the Spirit of God that I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.”

What Jesus is saying is look at what you see.  Stop judging on the basis of your own anger and bitterness and look at what the Bible has said along. God’s healing is being brought to people. The Holy Spirit is testifying that the Messiah has arrived!

Then Jesus speaks the words we started with this morning. Note that the first words are “EVERY KIND OF SIN AND SLANDER CAN BE FORGIVEN.”

Jesus goes on and what He’s saying is if we continually refuse to listen to the Holy Spirit and actually go so far as to call what the Spirit does as demonic then we are setting ourselves up for the unforgivable sin.  (Note: Jesus is not saying they have done this, but He is calling them to search the scriptures, to search their hearts.)

The Holy Spirit always testifies to Jesus. Jesus is saying do not sin against the Spirit because if you persist in that you are cutting yourself off from the only One who can save. The Holy Spirit leads us to faith and to Jesus, who opens our eyes to see the goodness and grace of God.

What is the sin against the Holy Spirit?
IT IS THE CONSCIOUS, DELIBERATE AND PERSISTENT REJECTION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT’S TESTIMONY TO THE IDENTITY AND SAVING POWER OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST.

Jesus speaks these words of warning to them to lead them to repentance and faith.  God is merciful. His desire is for ALL.

Classic example:
    ⁃    Saul of Tarsus – the persecutor of believers who becomes a transformed man – Apostle Paul.  Pastor shares Saul’s story of transformation. Paul understood the sin of the Holy Spirit because that was the path he had been on in his life. But then Saul has an encounter with God that changes him and he understands the immense patience of God and His amazing grace.

Pastor closes with Romans 10:9-10 “If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.”

God is good! So let us listen to the Holy Spirit’s voice who leads us to Jesus our only Hope.

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Pastor starts today’s class by taking a look at Matthew 24:37-39a “As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away.”

This text is part of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount of Olives and He is talking about His second coming. Jesus compares what it will be like at the end of time, to what happened at the time of Noah’s flood. Noah and his sons built the boat over a long period of time and people could see he was building a huge boat, but they continued doing their regular life things and the flood took them all away. They had not listened to Noah’s preaching and warnings. It will be like that at the end when Jesus returns.  

In 2 Peter 3:3-10 Peter shares another comparison of what the Second Coming of Christ will be like. There will be a time when God keeps His word once again.  There’s been a warning that there will be an end – the Second Coming of Christ and it will take place. We are called to be alert, listen and respond and not to ignore that He is returning. We are to be ready and waiting.

Matthew 24 continues with verses 39b-42 “That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left. ‘Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.'”

Pastor zeroes in on the words “one will be taken the other left.” The question is taken to where?
Believer opinions are:
    ⁃    Taken for judgement
    ⁃    Taken to be with Christ

Pastor refers back to a recent teaching entitled “What Happens When I Die?”  That teaching can be viewed here https://www.youtube.com/live/5L41Ufkiq2w?si=xxcv4CNj2FC-y7XD
Part of that teaching is on 1 Thessalonians 4:13- 5:6. These verses are Paul’s description of the Second Coming of Christ. Paul makes it clear that when Jesus returns the dead believers will be raised first and those still alive will be caught up with them.

Pastor takes a deeper look at the original Greek text of the word Jesus uses for our translated word “taken.” For the “taken” Jesus uses here, the word is paralambanō which means to be taken to one’s side, to receive to one’s self. It is a positive and affectionate word. It’s the picture of the Bridegroom taking His bride (His people) to Himself. 

In our day it is like Noah’s day and Jesus’ day where people are just going on like normal and ignoring God or not paying attention to Him or His Word. But Jesus speaks a word of warning to those not listening and a word of encouragement  to believers. In verse 42 He says, “Therefore keep watch!” The greek text for “keep watch” is the word grēgoreō and it means to keep awake! And to be ready for Christ’s return!

In closing, Pastor shares a saying he once heard: “Live as though Christ died yesterday, arose this morning and is coming again tomorrow!”  

Now What? Learn about God at https://www.awakeusnow.com EVERYTHING we offer is FREE.

View live or on demand: https://www.awakeusnow.com/tuesday-bible-class

For more check out the series, “What’s the Answer”  https://www.awakeusnow.com/whats-the-answer

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Pastor opens with a prayer for God to build unity among believers especially in the areas where we have differing opinions, that we would show grace to one another and humility before God.

Pastor begins with the “rapture” passage in 1 Thessalonians 4:17, “After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and so we will be with the Lord forever.”

“Will be caught up.” This caught up is the rapture. “Will be caught up” is one word in Greek: harpazō (Latin was used to translate the Greek work and in Latin the word is rapiemur from which we get “rapture”)

Let’s check out 1 Thessalonians 4:13-16 where Paul answers the question about Christian believers who have died, “Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in Him. According to the Lord’s word we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God and the dead in Christ will rise first.”  

These are encouraging words for believers, giving them the assurance of Jesus’ Second Coming and the assurance of the resurrection of the dead, the gathering of the living and all going with Jesus in the air and of being with Him forever.

If we take Paul’s powerful words of summary of the Second Coming in these verses – it seems to be saying that the rapture occurs when Jesus returns, when the dead are raised and when we are all caught up in the air with Him.

Paul goes on to say in verse 18: “Therefore encourage one another with these words.”

In 1 Thessalonians 5:1-3 we read that Christ comes at a time no one knows, and He comes not only to bring His people to Himself, but to bring judgement. Verses 4-6 goes on to tell us that we belong to the Light and not to the darkness and Paul calls us to understanding that Jesus can come anytime and that we should be ready and looking forward to His return. 

Common questions:
        What is all this talk about the Rapture – its referring to believers who have died in Christ and those who are alive when He returns and the risen dead and the alive will be united with Christ
        Will there be a rapture – Yes!!!
        Where is the rapture found in the Bible – In 1 Thessalonians 4
        When will the rapture take place – at the Second Coming of Christ
        Will Christians go through the Tribulation – The word for tribulation is the Greek word thlipsis. It is used 45 time in the New Testament. (Suffering, persecution, tribulation) Pastor takes us on an exploration of the ways thlipsis is used in the New Testament by looking at:
        John 16:33
        Matthew 24:21-22
        Romans 5:3
        1 Thessalonians 3:7
        2 Thessalonians 1:4
        Revelation 7:14
We see in these verses that tribulation is a reality, we read of the tribulation of others, of Jesus saying that in this world we will have tribulation, that there will be tribulation, and we read about glorying in our tribulations. 

Pastor shares the tribulation of the apostles, disciples, and early believers, and that throughout the centuries there has been tribulation of Christian people and in our day the tribulation that is attacking many believers around the world (kidnapped, raped, captured, hunted down, killed, ridiculed, put down, in fear of losing jobs, etc). Tribulation is real, it’s a reality. the Bible doesn’t say we will escape it, instead it says we will be persecuted. Our hope is not based on being taken out of tribulation, our hope is on the second coming of Christ. And the assurance that we will be raised on the last day and will live with Him forever.

Believers have differing opinions – Pastor encourages us with what the Bible says:
        to maintain the peace of the Holy Spirit. 
        To search the scripture
        to not get caught up in details that cause controversy 
        to focus on the mission of bringing others to Christ

Jesus is the only message of reconciliation and eternal life. That is our focus, labor, prayer and service.

Bottom line ….
The entire New Testament points to the Second Coming of Christ and urges us to live in such a way as to be always ready for His return.

Pastor’s closing prayer speaks of thanks to God for the Scriptures, while in them we don’t find everything we want to know, the Scriptures do provide ALL that we need to know.

Now What? Learn about God at https://www.awakeusnow.com EVERYTHING we offer is FREE.

Check out this video series from our website: https://www.awakeusnow.com/whats-the-answer

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In today’s class we are going to do a little math!  Come along with us as we look at the Holy Spirit in the Old and New Testaments. 

The word “Holy Spirit” in the:
    1.    Old Testament – 3 times
    2.    New Testament – 90 times

The New Testament which is considerably smaller than the Old Testament uses the word “Holy Spirit” 30 times more frequently.

The word “Spirit” + other expressions for Spirit:
    1.    Old Testament – 74 times
    2.    New Testament – 268 times

It is clear that the Holy Spirit is being poured out!

We are in the age of the Spirit! And doing the math makes that very clear!  God is at work! May we be attentive!

Now What? Learn about God at https://www.awakeusnow.com EVERYTHING we offer is FREE.

View live or on demand: https://www.awakeusnow.com/tuesday-bible-class

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Join us Sundays 
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The answer? EVERYONE! 

The Holy Spirit is found in the Old and New Testaments. In the Old Testament the Spirit came mainly to specific people for specific purposes, but there was the foretelling of the Spirit being poured out in abundance – an age of the Holy Spirit ushered in by Jesus. Jesus the Messiah ushers in the Age of the Holy Spirit.

Mark 1:7-8 John the Baptist tells us, “And this was his message: “After me comes the one more powerful than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie.  I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

Acts 1:8 Jesus tells us, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Acts 2:16-17 “this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: “‘In the last days, God says,
 I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
 Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
 your young men will see visions,
 your old men will dream dreams.”

One of Jesus’ teachings on the Holy Spirit is found in Luke 11:9-13:
A.S.K.:
Ask – for the Holy Spirit and you will receive
Seek – the Holy Spirit and you will find it
Knock – and the door will be opened

Jesus’ desire is that the Holy Spirit is moving in each of our lives. 

Then Jesus ends this teaching with Luke 11:13 “So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.”

Jesus is not rebuking us – He’s inviting us to live in the power of the Holy Spirit. His desire is to have the Holy Spirit poured out on all of us.

The Holy Spirit in the disciple’s life:
    1.    Romans 8:5-6. “Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.” We are to allow the Holy Spirit to lead and direct our lives. We are invited to let go and let the Spirit of God take control of our thoughts, behaviors, prayers and lives.
    2.    1 Corinthians 3:1 “Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ.” We do not want to remain spiritual babies. We need to rely upon God through the power of the Holy Spirit in us. We are called to new life through the Holy Spirit governing how we think, behave and live.
    3.    Galatians 5:22-25 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.”  We can ask ourselves if we see the fruit of the Spirit in our lives. Since the Holy Spirit brings us to Christ, changes our minds, changes our behavior as we listen to Him so let us keep in step with Him and allow the fruit to blossom in our lives.
    4.    Ephesians 5:18-20 “Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”   We are to be filled with the Spirit, and to keep on being filled with the Holy Spirit. 

We are called to a God-focused life, to a life of purpose, meaning, joy and peace. We are called to go through this life with the assurance of what lies ahead. And what lies ahead for the believer is life with God forever when Jesus returns! We are called to live in the light of that truth, to make music in our hearts to God, to sing praises and to live a life that matters and to live in a what that reflects the Lord Jesus.  THAT is a life empowered by the Holy Spirit!

Pastor closes with a prayer stating in faith the desire to be filled to overflowing with the Holy Spirit and to be empowered by the Spirit to call others to knowing Jesus.

Now What? Learn about God at https://www.awakeusnow.com EVERYTHING we offer is FREE.

Check out this video series from our website: https://www.awakeusnow.com/whats-the-answer

Join us Sundays 
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Check out this episode!