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Amen. I did forget to announce that we have cake and ice cream and coffee after the service to celebrate all the birthdays and anniversaries. I don't know if I remember to say that. So make sure you stick around after the service for some fellowship. And we're there in Matthew, chapter number 12. And we've been going through a series on Sunday nights. And it's really just been kind of a systematic study of the Holy Spirit. If you remember, we started four weeks ago, five weeks ago. And we started with the subject of the person of the Holy Spirit. We learned how the Holy Spirit is a person. He has intellect, and he has emotion, and he communicates, and he has a body. And then we talked about the Holy Spirit as God. We showed the attributes of the Holy Spirit. He is the creator. He is omnipresent, and omnipotent, and omniscient. We talked about the Trinity and the Holy Spirit. Last week, we talked about the work of the Holy Spirit. Tonight, we're going to talk about the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. And this idea of the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is something that is very confusing and misunderstood by many people. And what I'd like to do tonight is just look at the passages that have to do with this, and clearly look at what it means to blaspheme the Holy Ghost. Now, we read Matthew, chapter 12. And I'd like you to look at verse, not verse 31, but look at Matthew, chapter 12, and begin at verse number 22, just to get a little bit of the context. Actually, you know what? Let's not do that. We're going to do that in a minute. Just look at verse 31 for now. It says, 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. So this is one of the places where we see this idea or the concept of the blasphemy of the Holy Ghost. Jesus said that when somebody blasphemes the Holy Ghost, that sin will not be forgiven him. And notice it says, neither in this world, neither in the world to come. Now, the blasphemy of the Holy Ghost is only mentioned three times in scripture. And all three times are basically a reference to the same story. We see it in Mark, chapter 3, verses 22 through 30. You don't have to go there. We'll look at that later on in the sermon. We also see it in Luke, chapter 12, and verse 10. They all refer to this one and same event. And it's all Jesus basically proclaiming to the Pharisees that they have blasphemed the Holy Ghost. Now, what I'd like to do, just kind of as we get started, is give you some alternate views to the blasphemy of the Holy Ghost and some views which I would say are incorrect views in regards to the blasphemy of the Holy Ghost. But when you talk to different people, different church groups or different denominations or whatever you want to call them, will have different views on how they explain the blasphemy of the Holy Ghost. The first one, and there might be more than this. These are just the ones that I've heard that are kind of common. The first one is that some people believe that the blasphemy of the Holy Ghost is simply not believing on Christ when the Holy Ghost draws you. And this is what most independent fundamental Baptists, what we sometimes refer to as the old IFB, this is what they believe about the blasphemy of the Holy Ghost. This is what I was taught my whole life about the blasphemy of the Holy Ghost. They'll say is that it is the Holy Ghost, it is the Holy Spirit of God that draws men to Christ. And that is true. It is the Holy Spirit that works in us and works through us as we present the gospel. It is the Holy Spirit that is using the word of God to bring men to offer them and to help them receive salvation. And what they'll say is this, that when someone hears the gospel and has the Holy Spirit working in them and working in their hearts and drawing them to salvation, and that individual then rejects that salvation, what they are doing is they are resisting the Holy Ghost. And they'll say this is the blasphemy of the Holy Ghost. Now, when you look at, and we're going to look at it here in a minute. We're going to take some time and break it down. When you look at what actually happened when the Pharisees blasphemed the Holy Ghost, you cannot get that narrative from the story. You cannot get the idea that someone was preaching the gospel to someone, they chose to reject it, and then Jesus points at that and says, you just blasphemed the Holy Ghost. You say, well, why is it that Baptists will teach that the blasphemy of the Holy Ghost is simply not believing on Christ? And the reason for that is simple. It's because they do not believe in the reprobate doctrine. It's because of the fact that they say, well, there's only one sin that God wouldn't pardon is the sin of unbelief. But unfortunately, that is not what the Bible teaches. In fact, we're going to look at that very clearly tonight, how the Bible says, look, not believing on Christ will send you to hell. Absolutely. But there are sins in the Bible that God says are unpardonable, where you can cross a line with God and no longer have the option or the ability to be saved. Here's another kind of alternative view to the blasphemy of the Holy Ghost that I've heard. And it's that simply cursing or speaking ill of the Holy Ghost is what blaspheming the Holy Ghost is. And somebody told me about this a while ago, and I've not seen this or checked it out or tried to look at it. And I'm not telling you to do so. But somebody told me that on YouTube. There's a YouTube channel or something where young people will video record themselves basically cursing or cursing out the Holy Ghost. You can watch these videos where these kids are just saying, blankety blank, the Holy Ghost. And I think the Holy Ghost this and whatever. And they're blaspheming the Holy Ghost. And people say, well, that's blasphemy of the Holy Ghost. And here's the thing. And let me say this. I'm not saying those kids aren't reprobates, OK? Because obviously, if you're making a video on YouTube where you're just saying, blankety blank, the Holy Ghost, you're probably a reprobate or on your way down that road, all right? So I'm not justifying that at all. But again, you don't see that in the passage. In the passage, you don't see the Pharisees cursing out the Holy Ghost and saying, blankety blank, the Holy Ghost, and Jesus saying, you just blaspheme the Holy Ghost. That's not what we see in the narrative. And as Baptists, we are biblicists. What that means is that the Bible is the authority. And we must simply look at scripture and not read into it, not impose our thoughts and our beliefs into it. Just let the Bible speak for itself. And when you allow the Bible to speak for itself, you cannot walk away believing that the blasphemy of the Holy Ghost is simply somebody rejecting the gospel presentation. And that goes against a lot of scriptures. I mean, Paul talked about the fact that at salvation, some people will plant the seed, and some people will water. And God will give the increase. And if we believe that blaspheming the Holy Ghost is anytime you give the gospel to someone and they reject it, they blaspheme the Holy Ghost, well, guess what? Then that would mean that they have not forgiveness in this world, neither in the world to come. I mean, that would mean that you get one shot at salvation. And if you mess it up, you know, and that's just way too much pressure to put on a new soul winner, OK? So that's not what we get from scripture. Cursing and speaking ill of the Holy Ghost, although I would definitely think that anybody who's cursing the Holy Ghost and things like that definitely has something wrong in their heart. And their hearts may be hardened or being hardened. And they could definitely be a reprobate. But that's not what we see in this passage. Here's the other view that I've heard in regards to blaspheming the Holy Ghost is that basically, and this is what the Pentecostals, the tongue speaking Pentecostals like to do, is they'll look at anyone who makes fun of tongue speaking and say, you're just blaspheming the Holy Ghost, right? Because they'll say that they speak in tongues through the power of the Holy Ghost. So when we say, hey, that's not what the Bible says. That's not what the Bible teaches. Then they'll say that we blaspheme the Holy Ghost. Problems with that? Number one, the tongue speaking that the Pentecostals do is not biblical. It's not found in the word of God. It's not even close to what the Bible says. We're actually going to do a sermon. I think the last sermon in this series is going to be on what the Bible actually teaches about speaking with tongues and all of that. So if you're interested in learning about that, stick with the series. And we will cover that. But the Pentecostals will say, when you mock their religion or you say, that's a false religion, that's not what the Bible, they'll say, you just blaspheme the Holy Ghost. But again, you can't get that from the passage. Because what you don't see in this passage is the Lord Jesus Christ speaking with tongues, and then the Pharisees laughing about it, and Jesus saying, you just blaspheme the Holy Ghost. So that's what the Pentecostals will tell you, that blaspheme the Holy Ghost is. But that's not what the Bible says. You don't see the Pharisees making videos on YouTube saying, blankety blank, the Holy Ghost. So we might look at that and say, well, that's got to be blaspheme the Holy Ghost. But that's not what we see in the passage. And you don't see Jesus giving the gospel to somebody, they rejecting it, and then Jesus saying, well, you just blaspheme the Holy Ghost. That's not what we see in scripture. So the question is this. What actually happened, what actually took place when there was blasphemy of the Holy Ghost? Let's look at it. You're there in Matthew chapter 12. Look at verse number 22, just to get a little bit of the context. Matthew chapter 12 and verse 22, notice what the Bible says. Then was brought unto him one possessed with a devil. So the him there is Jesus. And they bring to him a man who's demon-possessed, a man who's possessed with the devil, blind and dumb. And he healed him, insomuch that the blind and the dumb both spake and saw. So they bring a man possessed with the devil who's dumb and blind, not able to speak, not able to see. And Jesus healed him and gave him the ability. He cast the devil out and gave him the ability to both speak, the Bible says, both spake and saw. Notice verse 23. And all the people were amazed and said, is not this the son of David? So they're saying, this has got to be the one that's been prophesied of. This has got to be the Messiah, the Christ, the son of David. Look how he cast out this devil. Verse 24. But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, so notice the Pharisees are being envious here. Because they heard people say about Jesus, this must be the son of David. And when the Pharisees heard it, they said, this fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub, the prince of the devil. So I want you to understand what's going on here. They bring a demon-possessed man. Jesus cast out the devil. He gives him the ability to both see and speak. And then the people said, wow, that's amazing. Look at that. Look at what he did. Is not this the son of David? And then the Pharisees pipe up. And they say, well, this fellow, yeah, he's casting out devils. But he does not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub. So they're saying, he's not casting out devils by the Holy Spirit of God and the power of the Holy Spirit. He's casting out devils by Beelzebub. Now you might ask, well, who is Beelzebub? Well, notice that the Pharisees identify who Beelzebub is. They said that he cast out devils, but by Beelzebub. Notice the prince of the devils. The word prince there is in reference to the ruler or the leader. Remember, we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers. And what they're saying is, Beelzebub is the devil that is in charge of all the devils. He is the prince of the devils. He's the principality. He's the guy who's in charge of all of the demons. So we know that to be Satan. Notice that Jesus further clarifies that they are referring to Satan when they are referring to Beelzebub, verse 25. And Jesus knew their thoughts and said unto them. So notice, they're just thinking this, but Jesus knows what they're thinking because Jesus is God, because Jesus is omniscient. He's all knowing. And Jesus knew their thoughts and said unto them, every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand. Notice verse 26. And if Satan cast out Satan. So I want you to notice, they said, you've got Beelzebub. You're doing it by the power of Beelzebub, the prince of the devils. And then Jesus identifies for us that they are referring to Satan. Because they're saying, you did it by the power of Beelzebub. And he says, look, if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself. How shall then his kingdom stand? So notice verse 27. And if I, by Beelzebub, cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? Therefore, they shall be your judges. So notice the terms of Beelzebub and Satan are being used interchangeably. So here's what they're saying, because he's a prince of the devils. Here's what they're saying. They're saying, you didn't cast out the devils by the power of the Holy Spirit. You cast out devils by the power of Satan. You are filled with Satan. And you've got the power of Satan. And that's how you're doing what you're doing. Notice verse 28. Notice what Jesus says. But if I, this is Jesus speaking, if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you. So what is it that took place when this idea of the blasphemy of the Holy Ghost came about? Now, you're there in Matthew chapter 12. Go up into the book of Mark, Mark chapter number three. Mark chapter three, you're there in Matthew 12. So you're going to go just one book over, Mark chapter three. And again, we don't see in this passage Jesus. Hello, Mr. Pharisee, just wanted to ask you a question. Do you know for sure if you died today, are you on your way to heaven? Ah, no, I'm not interested in that. And then Jesus, well, you're just blasting the Holy Ghost. That's not what we see in the story. We don't see Jesus speaking with tongues and having the Pharisees laugh at him and mock at him and say, you're just blasting the Holy Ghost. We don't even see the Pharisees mocking or laughing or cursing the Holy Ghost. They think they're cursing Jesus by saying that Jesus is filled with Satan. And the problem with them saying that is that Jesus felt the Holy Ghost. Jesus was filled with the Spirit of God. Jesus was doing these miracles by the power of God. And what they were basically doing is they were saying that Jesus was demon possessed. Notice there in Mark chapter three, if you look at verse number, if you can turn me down just a hair, I feel like it's kind of a little loud. Look at verse number 28, Mark chapter three and verse 28. The Bible says this, verily I say unto you, all sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewithsoever they shall blaspheme. But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation. Verse 30, because they said he hath an unclean spirit. So notice, when they said, you're not doing this by the power of God, by the Spirit of God, you're doing it by an unclean spirit. You're doing it by Beelzebub. Verse 30 says, because they said he hath an unclean spirit, what are they saying? They're saying to Jesus that Jesus is demon possessed. So what is it that actually happened? Because sometimes I think we're trying to read too much into the passages, and we think, well, there's got to be something bigger. There's got to be something deeper. There's got to be something greater in this passage than this. But look, if you have the Holy Spirit, if you're saved, and if I have the Holy Spirit, I'm saved. If you've got a King James Bible, and I've got a King James Bible, we should be able to look at it and say, what happened? What happened when Jesus brought up the concept of blessing the Holy Ghost? And I think it's clear, when you look at the passage, Jesus cast out a devil. The people were amazed and said, wow, this must be the son of David. The Pharisees said, oh, yeah, well, you know what? Well, he's casting out devils, but he's doing it by the prince of the devils. He's doing it by Beelzebub. He's doing it, he's filled with Satan. And then Jesus says, you know what? I'm actually doing it by the Holy Spirit of God, and you just said that I did it by an unclean spirit, and you just blasphemed the Holy Ghost, and you have never forgiveness. That's what happened when the blasphemy of the Holy Ghost took place, and that's what basically happened in all the passages. You can't find another passage that gives you another example. Now, you say, well, what can we take away from that, and what can we learn from that? And here's the point that I'm making, and I don't want to be dogmatic on this, but to be honest with you, I'm not even necessarily sure that we could blaspheme the Holy Ghost today. And you say, well, why don't you think somebody could blaspheme the Holy Ghost? Because as a Baptist, I have to commit myself and submit myself to the word of God. And if you ask me, what does it mean to blaspheme the Holy Ghost? The only references I can show you is, well, Jesus cast out a devil, and then you said that you didn't do that by the Spirit of God. You did that by Satan. You're filled with Satan. You're demon-possessed. That's what he called blaspheme the Holy Ghost, and I just don't know that we could do that today, because Jesus isn't on this earth today. He's not walking around today casting out devils, so I'm not even necessarily sure or convinced that we could blaspheme the Holy Ghost. Now, I'm not dogmatic on that. In fact, I recently had a preacher friend, and I'm not going to tell you who it is just in case he decides not to do this, but I recently had a preacher friend who told me that they were planning on preaching a sermon about blaspheming the Holy Ghost and how that can be done today. And I told him, I said, I'm interested to hear the sermon. I'd love to hear how that could be applied today. I'm not saying it can't. I'm just telling you, I can't think of a way to reproduce or to redo what the Pharisees did today, because what the Pharisees did was Jesus cast out a devil, and then they said, you're not filled with the Holy Spirit. You're filled with Satan. So that's what the Bible teaches us, and that's what the Bible says. So again, it's not that someone was given the gospel, the Holy Spirit was drawing them, they rejected the Holy Spirit, and that's blaspheming the Holy Ghost. It's not that somebody was saying, blankety-blank, the Holy Ghost, and Jesus said, you just blaspheme the Holy Ghost. And it's not that someone was speaking in tongues. In fact, if you look at Acts chapter 2 and the passage of Pentecost, when they were actually speaking with tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance, if you remember, the people were mocking at that. And they said, these men are filled with new wine. And Peter didn't get up and say, you just blaspheme the Holy Ghost, buddy. He explained to them, no, let me tell you, this is actually what Joel said was going to happen. And he preached to them, and he explained to them what was happening. So those are, in my opinion, invalid alternative views to the blaspheming of the Holy Ghost. You say, well, what is the blaspheming of the Holy Ghost? At the end of the day, all I think that we can really say is that when you see the Lord Jesus Christ cast out a devil, and then you give the credit to Satan filling him and doing it by the power of Satan, then doing it by the power of the Holy Spirit. And I'll go back to Matthew chapter 12. And I know we have cake and ice cream, but the sermon's not done. You're probably thinking, OK, well, we're done, right? No, I've got a few more things I'd like to show you about this. We started by talking about the alternative views of the blasphemy of the Holy Ghost, and then we talked about what actually happened. And again, I'm not saying that it can't happen today. I just can't figure out a scenario where you could say this is what happened and this is what took place. But what I'd like to do is spend a little bit of time and give you a few reasons as to why this passage does not teach that you can lose your salvation. Because this is really where this becomes, if you say, well, OK, we can't even blaspheme the Holy Ghost today because we would need the Lord Jesus Christ to be walking around casting out devils in order for somebody to blaspheme the Holy Ghost. And why preach a whole sermon on it? What's the importance of this passage? And the importance of this passage, in my opinion, is that this passage has been used today by false teachers to try to say that you can lose your salvation. And they'll say, and if you're a soul winner, you've probably had somebody say this to you. You ask them, you're talking to them about salvation. Do you know for sure if you died today, are you on your way to heaven? Yes, you know, I'm sure. Well, what are you trusting in to get you to heaven? Do you think you could lose your salvation? And sometimes people say, well, if you blaspheme the Holy Ghost. And today, people will say, well, of course you can lose your salvation. If you're blaspheme the Holy Ghost, that's not going to be forgiven. And this passage will be used to try to go against or disprove eternal security. So what I'd like to do is give you a few reasons as to why this passage does not teach you can lose your salvation. The blasphemy of the Holy Ghost does not in any way, shape, or form teach that somebody can lose their salvation. You say, prove it. Well, look at, you're there in Matthew 12, look at verse 23. Notice what the Bible says. The problem with teaching that in Matthew chapter 12 or in Mark chapter 3 or in Luke chapter 12, the problem with teaching that in those instances when those people blaspheme the Holy Ghost, they lost their salvation. The problem with that is that the people who blaspheme the Holy Ghost in those passages were not saved. So it's not possible that they blaspheme the Holy Ghost and lost their salvation when they didn't have salvation. They didn't have salvation to lose. Are you there in Matthew 12? Look at verse 23. And all the people were amazed and said, is not this the son of David? But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, this fellow did not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub, the prince of the devil. So notice, it was the Pharisees who said of Christ, this fellow did not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub, the prince of the devils. And here's what you need to understand. The Pharisees were not saved. In fact, you can prove it in the exact same chapter. Are you there in Matthew 12, 24? Actually, I'm sorry, not the same chapter. The same book, go to Matthew 23. Go to Matthew chapter 23. You're there in Matthew 12. Just flip over to Matthew 23. And let me just show you and prove to you that the Pharisees were not saved. And if you're taking notes, you might want to go to the references where you've got the blasphemy of the Holy Ghost and write this reference, Matthew 23, verses 13 through 15, in the margin of your Bible. Because when you're out soul winning, and somebody asks you about this, if you go out soul winning, somebody asks you, what about the blasphemy of the Holy Ghost? You should have this cross-reference to be able to prove this to them. Matthew 23, verse 13, notice what the Bible says. It says, but woe unto you, this is Jesus speaking, but woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, notice, for ye, the Pharisees, shut up the kingdom of heaven against men. It says the Pharisees, they are closing the doors. They are shutting the doors to the kingdom of heaven against men. Notice what Jesus said, for ye neither go in yourselves. OK, so according to Jesus, were the Pharisees saved? No. He says, you're not going into the kingdom of heaven. You're not going into heaven when you die. For ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer. The word suffer means allow. He says, neither do you allow, suffer ye them that are entering in to go in. He says, look, you shut up the kingdom of God, of heaven, because of the fact that you're not even saved, and then you're trying to get people who'd like to be saved, you're trying to stop them from getting saved. And look, this is the problem with false religion. Sometimes people get upset. Why do you have to mention these false religions, and why do you have to talk about this religion and that religion? Look, the problem with false religion is that not only are they themselves going to die and go to hell, but they're leading others to go to hell. When you've got churches that are teaching that you have to repent of your sins, or stop sinning, or quit sinning in order to be saved, that's a false teaching. When you've got a church that is saying, well, you can lose your salvation, or you can walk away from it, or God gives it to you, but you can give it back, that's a false teaching. You say, well, why do you have to come down so hard on those people? Because they're not only shutting up the kingdom of heaven, and they themselves not going in, they're leading others to go in. They're leading other people astray. And Jesus said about these Pharisees, he says, look, you are not entering to go in to the kingdom of heaven, and you are not allowing other people. You're keeping other people from going in. Look at verse 14. Lo, unto you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. Therefore, ye shall receive, notice, the greater damnation. Look, are these people saved? Let me just give you a hint. If you're damned, you're not saved. If you're condemned, you're not saved. If you're being cursed by Jesus to go to hell, you're not saved. That's what the word damned means. He says, look, you're going to get the greater damnation. Lo, unto you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, verse 15, for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, that's a convert, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourself. Here's the point that I made. The Pharisees weren't saved. So somebody says to you, well, what about the philosophy of the Holy Ghost? They lost their salvation. Here's the answer. Those people weren't even saved. They didn't have salvation to lose. They weren't going to the kingdom of heaven, and they were keeping others from going in. Now let me say this. That's probably enough of an answer for the soul winners. Let me talk to those of you that are soul winners. That's probably enough of an answer you need at the door. Now I'm going to give you more in this sermon, but let me just say this. You don't have to preach this whole sermon to someone at the door, but if the question comes up, what about blasphemy and the Holy Ghost? Didn't those people lose their salvation? The only real short answer that you should be giving at the door is, well, here's the problem with that. The people in the Bible, the only people who ever blasphemed the Holy Ghost weren't saved. Oh, prove that to me. Sure, Matthew 23, verses 13 through 15. The Pharisees were not saved. Let me give you another reason, though, why this passage is not teaching that you can lose your salvation. 1 Corinthians chapter 12. You're there in Matthew? Go to Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans, 1 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians chapter 12. So we're talking about reasons why this does not teach you can lose your salvation. The first reason is because the only people in the entire Bible who blasphemed the Holy Ghost were not saved. So don't tell me they lost their salvation, because they didn't have a salvation to lose. But here's another reason. And you may want to use this one at the door, too, if you want to jot down the reference. But another reason that we know that the blasphemy of the Holy Ghost does not teach you can lose your salvation is because this. The Bible suggests, or seems to indicate, that any true believers will not blaspheme against the Lord Jesus Christ, or against God, or against the Holy Ghost. 1 Corinthians chapter 12, look at verse 3. 1 Corinthians chapter 12 and verse 3. 1 Corinthians 12, 3 says this, wherefore I give you to understand that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed. Now remember, what is it that the Pharisees did? They said, you are not doing this by the power of the Holy Ghost. You are filled with Satan. Remember Mark 3.30? Because they said he has an unclean spirit. They said to Jesus, they looked at Jesus, and they said, you are possessed with the devil. You are demon-possessed. OK, when you tell somebody you're possessed with the devil, here's what you're telling them. At the very least, you're telling them they're accursed. Because if you've got a devil, you don't have the Holy Spirit. Look, you say, can a Christian get demon-possessed? No. Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. In fact, in the same passages, we won't take the time to develop it. But in the same passages about the Holy Spirit and about unsaved people having demons, he talks about the fact that a strong man would have to bind someone and move them out of the way in order to be able to take over their house. And he's using that as an analogy of being possessed with the devil. And here's the truth. You say, well, how about casting out devils today? What can we do? Well, here's the problem. You're not Peter, and you're not Paul. So I'd be careful about walking up to somebody, either strung out on drugs or possessed with the devil or both, and start commanding in the name of Jesus, OK? I'd be careful, because that devil might jump out and say, Jesus I know, and Paul I know, but I'm not sure who you are, and beat the fire out of you. So I'd be careful about trying to pull up any hand and pull out devils. You say, Pastor Jimenez, OK, well, do we cast out devils today? Here's the best way I know to cast out a devil is get that person saved. Because when the Holy Spirit moves in, the unclean spirits move out. Because greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. So when they said you're filled with the devil, they said to Jesus, you are accursed. You're demon-possessed. You're damned. You're a child of hell. You're going to go to hell. So notice what the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 12.3. Wherefore I give you to understand that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed, and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost. This is just an interesting thought. I just thought this was funny. But if you listen to the Pentecostals today, you'll notice that there's a big theme with Pentecostals. And I'm going to say this. Somebody's going to find an example where this isn't the case and send me the email. I'm not going to read it, so whatever. But Brother Oliver will read it and delete it. But it's interesting because when you talk to many Pentecostals today, you know what they say? They say Jesus is Lord. Have you ever noticed that? Jesus is Lord. Big, big banners. Jesus is Lord. Websites, Jesus is Lord, Jesus is Lord. I said it was interesting that they say Jesus is Lord because the Bible says that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost. I thought it was interesting to say Jesus is Lord. And I'm like, well, the Holy Ghost said you just say Jesus is the Lord. And you may think that's not that big of a deal. I just thought that was interesting. But here's the point. No man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed. So look, I don't believe that someone who's truly saved that has the Holy Spirit of God is ever going to blaspheme the Holy Ghost. They're ever going to call Jesus a curse or blaspheme the Holy Ghost because of the fact that no man speaking by the Spirit of God call Jesus accursed. Now go to Matthew 24. Go back to Matthew and chapter 24. So I'm giving you reasons why the blasphemy of the Holy Ghost does not teach, is not teaching that you can use your salvation. Here's two good reasons. Number one, everyone in the Bible who blasphemed the Holy Ghost wasn't safe to begin with. Number two, no true believer is going to blaspheme the Holy Ghost. Sometimes I will get emails. And people will say, I think I might have accidentally blasphemed the Holy Ghost. I'm like, OK, how do you accidentally blaspheme the Holy Ghost? I think there was this one time, and I was drunk. Well, that's a problem. And be filled with the Spirit, all right? And not with drunkenness. Or I had this, or I was going through that, and I said, here's the point. You're not going to accidentally blaspheme the Holy Ghost. You're not going to just, I tripped and fell, and I blasphemed the Holy Ghost. It doesn't work that way. That is produced from a heart that is hard against God. And here's the point. Though we believe that salvation is by grace through faith, though we believe that salvation is not of works, though we believe that there's nothing in your life that you have to do in order to be safe or to prove that you are saved, though we believe that salvation is a gift, and you can continue on in your sinful merry way and live a worldly lifestyle and still be saved. We believe that. The Bible teaches that. Now, we're not saying you should, but we're saying you can. And what's interesting is, people will attack us on that. What's interesting is the churches that preach hardest against sin are the ones who teach you, you can be saved and live a life of sin. So don't sit there and say, oh, you guys are giving people a license to sin. You know what? Last I checked, people didn't need a license to sin. All right? They were driving unlicensed. They were sinning unlicensed. They're a bunch of undocumented sinners. They didn't wait till they were 16 to get their license to sin. They just started doing it all on their own. All right? So you're giving people a license to sin. You come to our church and sit on their preaching of buried baptism for six months and tell me we're giving people a license to sin. But you know what? We're not going to try to scare people into a false salvation either. Salvation is by grace through faith, period. And you don't have to live any sort of life in order to be saved or stay saved or prove that you are saved. With all of that said, let me say this. There are some things that a believer is not going to do. One of them is call Jesus a curse. No man speaking by the Spirit of God, call Jesus a curse. Here's another example. Matthew 24. Look at verse 24. Matthew 24, verse 24. For there shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and shall have great signs and wonders, insomuch that if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. The elect there is referring to believers. The Bible says that when the antichrist shows up, he's going to have false, there's going to be false Christs and false prophets. They're going to be so good that if it were possible, they would deceive the very elect. Translation, it's not possible. No, here's the other thing. No true believer is going to accidentally take the mark of the beast. I went down to CVS. I was going to pick up Nyquil, and somehow I got in the wrong line, and now I'm worshipping the abomination of desolation, and I got this mark. Now what do I do? Because at this position, well, cut your hand off. Cut your head off. It's not going to happen. You're not going to accidentally blasting the Holy Ghost. You're not going to accidentally take the mark of the beast. There are some things that true believers, real believers, people who have actually believed on Christ, received the Holy Ghost. They're just not going to do. And one is taking the mark of the beast. One is blaspheming the Holy Ghost. So again, the blaspheming of the Holy Ghost is not teaching that you can lose your salvation, and hopefully that makes sense and you understand that. It's kind of a third thing in regards to the blaspheming of the Holy Ghost. And let's talk about a little bit what this passage does teach about sin and forgiveness. What does this passage teach about sin and forgiveness? Well, the first one is this, if you can make your way back to Matthew chapter 12. Look at verse 31. What is this blaspheming of the Holy Ghost? We saw what it actually was. We talked about some of the things that people will say it is, alternative views that don't really hold water. It talks about reasons why you can't use it to teach against eternal security that you can lose your salvation. But let's talk about some of the things that this passage does teach about sin and forgiveness. The first one is this. It does teach that not all sin is equal. Today, many Christians will say, well, all sin is equal. All sin is equal. I mean, I think just yesterday I was checking my email and somebody was sending me a 14-page hint. If you want me to read your email, don't make it 14 pages. But some 14-page document about how. And I was going to read the whole thing. I was just looking at a few things. And the first thing I look at, it's just like being a pervert, a sodomite, a pedophile. That's a sin like anything else. I mean, you've got to have a mental issue to think. Some guy who's just molesting and abusing children, that's just the same as I stole a stapler from work. Now look, don't steal a stapler from work, OK? It's a sin. It's wrong. But that is nowhere near the same level as molesting children, as being a pedophile, or bestiality, or a sodomite, or whatever. I mean, those ideas are ludicrous. It's ridiculous to even think that. But if you want a proof text, here's a proof text that not all sin is equal. Some sins are worse than others. Matthew 12, 31, look what he says. Wherefore, I say unto you, all manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men. He says, look, you want to sin, you want to blaspheme, you can all sorts of blasphemy that you can do that will be forgiven unto men. But the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. What is that teaching us? It's teaching us that not all blasphemy is equal. Not all sin is equal. There are some sins that are worse than others. Go to John chapter 19. You there in Matthew? Go to Mark, Luke, John. John chapter 19. While you turn there, let me read for you from James 2.10. James 2.10 says this. For whosoever shall keep the whole law and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. People will try to use that verse and say, well, look, if you keep the whole law and offend in one point, you're guilty of all. That means that all sin is equal. How does that mean that all sin is equal? The words do not say all sin is equal. Here's all that means is any sin is enough to send you to hell. That's what it means. If you keep the whole law and offend in any point, no matter what you do, if you offend in any point, that's enough to send you to hell. You're guilty of all. You're guilty. You're going to go to hell. There's none righteous. No, not one. That's what that verse teaches. To take that verse and say, see, all sin is equal. No, you're reading into that. You're adding to that because that's not what it says. Let me give you another example of sins being greater than others. John 19, verse 11 says this. Jesus answered. This is when Jesus was arrested. He said, thou couldest have no power at all against me except that were given thee from above. Therefore, he that delivered me unto thee have the greater sin. So you're like, look, the Roman Empire is sinning by putting me to death. But you know, the Jews who delivered me to you, they have the greater sin. They have a worse sin. They've done a more severe sin. Why? Because nowhere in the Bible is this teaching that all sin is equal. There are sins that are worse than others. There are sins that are greater than others. There are sins that are more exceeding sinful and more wicked than others. So one thing we can take from this passage is that not all sin is equal. Some sins are worse than others. Here's another thing we can learn from this passage. Go to Luke chapter 12. You're there in John, so just flip one book back to Luke. Luke chapter 12. Here's another thing we can learn from this passage is that not all people can be forgiven. And I realize that this is not popular today. But look, not everybody can receive forgiveness. You can cross a line with God on this earth. Now look, we understand that if an unbeliever dies, they've crossed a line with God. They can't be saved. And as it is appointed unto men, once to die, but after this a judgment. If you don't get saved before you die, you've crossed a line with God, you're done. But the Bible teaches that there is even people who are alive who've crossed a line with God. They're twice dead. They've lost their opportunity to be saved. Now please understand what I'm saying. They didn't lose their salvation. Because nobody who's saved would do these things that we're going to talk about here. But if an unbeliever does one of these things, God says you crossed a line, you lost your opportunity. You could have been saved. God is not willing that any should perish. You could have believed. You could have had the gift. But you crossed a line with God. And now you do not have the ability to be saved. You say, I've never heard that before. Well, this is what the Bible teaches. Luke chapter 12, look at verse 10. The first one is the one we've been talking about. Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost. Luke chapter 12, verse 10. And whosoever speaketh the word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him. Isn't that interesting? Jesus said, look, you could speak against me, and that will be forgiven you. But whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, notice, it shall not be forgiven him. Notice the wording. Neither in this world, neither in the world to come. Here's another way of saying that. Neither in this life, neither in the life to come. He says it's not that one day you die if you die in the state. No, no. He says you can't be saved anymore. You've lost your opportunity to be saved. And look, if you don't believe in the reprobate doctrine, which teaches that you can cross the line with God and that you can no longer have the opportunity to be saved, then you got a big problem with Luke chapter 12 and verse 10. Because Jesus just told these people, you just crossed a line and it shall not be forgiven him. Neither in this world, neither in the world to come. So there are some people who cross a line with God and can no longer have lost. They didn't lose their salvation. They've lost the opportunity to be saved. Let me give you another example. Go to Revelation 22. Revelation chapter 22. Well, hurry, because the ice cream is getting cold. I don't know what that means, but. Revelation 22, look at verse 18. It's better when it's cold, right? So I can go longer. Revelation 22, look at verse 18. Revelation 22, 18. For I testify unto every man. Revelation 22, 18. For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book. If any man shall add unto these things. Talk about the prophecy of this book. God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book. And look, if you've read the book of Revelation, I mean, God basically dumps all of hell on the earth during his wrath. And God says, if you add to my book, I'm going to add the same plagues that I've talked about in the same book, look at verse 19. And if any man shall take away the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life. Now, notice what it says. It doesn't say he's going to take his salvation away. It's just saying he's going to take the part where their name would have been if they would have got saved. He said, there's not even going to be a place for you. Where it would have gone, I'm going to take that part away out of the book of life and out of the holy city and from the things which are written in this book. And look, here's what the Bible says. The Bible says that anybody who corrupts the word of God, they've crossed a line with God, and they've lost their opportunity to be saved. That's why these modern Bible verses are so dangerous. I don't understand what's the big deal. I don't understand. Why can't I read the NIV? How about the fact that they removed 27 verses from the New Testament? How about the fact that you have a Bible that can't even count right? You're literally going through chapters where verses are missing, and it's verse 35, 36, 38. And they just remove a verse. Well, let me tell you something. Everybody that was on the committee of the NIV and removed those verses, God removed their part out of the book of life. They crossed a line with God. They're going to die and go to hell. That's what the Bible teaches. And you say, oh, well, it's easier to understand. Look, it's not that hard. The, thou, it's just you, OK? Not that complicated. People try to act like, oh, the King James Bible is too hard to understand. Did you go to high school English? I mean, they make you read Shakespeare in public high school. It's the same thing. If you read Romeo and Juliet, if you read whatever, I kind of came to think of a different, trying to think of that merchant from the Jewish guy from Venice or whatever, I can't even think of the thing. But anyway, the point is this, that the word of God is important. And look, when there are corruptions of the word of God that have had verses removed, that have had things added to them, that is a big deal with God. And it's a big enough deal where God says, you know what? If you mess with my word, I'm going to mess with you. I'm going to remove your, I'm going to take away, I'm going to remove your part out of the book of life. And again, it's not that all these people lost their salvation. No, you know what? No one who's actually saved is going to take anything out of God's word. But it's these unsaved people that are messing with God's word. And God says, you know what? You crossed the line, and you can no longer be saved. Let me give you one more, Revelation 14. Revelation 14, look at verse 9. Here's another instance where someone could cross the line with God. We talked about it already, and it's taking the mark of the beast during the end times. If you take the mark of the beast, you cross the line with God, you're done. You're a reprobate. Revelation 14, verse 9. And the third angel followed them, saying, with a loud voice, if any man worship the beast and his image. And again, it's not, because I think people get this idea, like, during the end times, you know, when it's time to get the mark of the beast, I'm just going to go down to the DMV. They're going to put the chip in my hand, and I'm going to be good to go. I'm going to go down to CVS. It's like getting a passport or something, you know? I'm going to go down to the pharmacy store. They're going to take my picture, put a chip in my forehead. I'm going to be good to go. No, that's not how it's going to work. Look, you're going to have to worship the beast in his image and receive his mark in his forehead or in his hand. Notice what the Bible says. If any man shall worship the beast in his image and receive his mark in his forehead or in his hand, notice verse 10, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation. And he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the lamb. And the smoke of their torment ascended up forever and ever. And they have no rest day nor night who worship the beast in his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. The Bible teaches that when somebody takes the mark of the beast, they're done. They crossed a line, and they're not. You say, well, what if a Christian accidentally takes the mark of the beast? Remember Matthew 24, 24? If it were possible, it's not possible. No true believer is going to take the mark of the beast. Only unbelievers will be deceived into doing that. But here's the point. Once they do it, they cross the line. When the Pharisees blaspheme the Holy Ghost, they cross the line. When people removed and messed with God's word, they crossed the line. So look, the Bible teaches that not all sin is equal. There are some sins that are worse than others. And the Bible teaches that not everyone can be forgiven. That not everyone can be forgiven because there are some people who have crossed lines with God. And I'm not going to get into Romans 1 and all that. We don't have time for all that. But the point is this. That the blasphemy of the Holy Ghost, let's just understand the concept. What can we take away from it? We can take away from it the fact that not all sin is equal. There are some sins that are worse than others. We can take away from it the fact that you can't cross a line with God. Not a believer. Look, he will never leave thee nor forsake thee if you're saved. But unbelievers can get saved, or they can reject it till the day they die, or they can cross a line with God even before they die where God takes away their opportunity to be saved and they become a reprobate. What we can learn about the blasphemy of the Holy Ghost is that it's not teaching you to lose your salvation. Because the people who blaspheme the Holy Ghost weren't saved to begin with. And the Bible teaches that a believer is not going to, speaking by the Holy Spirit, is not going to call Jesus a curse. And we need to just understand. Just understand, what is the blasphemy of the Holy Ghost? As Bible-believing Christians, let's not make it fancy or try to make it mystical or, you know, what about in this situation or that situation? If you want to know what the blasphemy of the Holy Ghost, it's simple, just read it. They brought a demon-possessed man to Jesus. Jesus cast out the devil. The people said, wow, that's amazing. This must be the Messiah. This must be the son of David. The Pharisees got envious and said, well, yeah, he's casting out devils. But he's not doing it by the Spirit of God. He's doing it by Beelzebub, the prince of the devils. He's filled with Satan. He's got an unclean spirit. He's demon-possessed. And Jesus said to them, you just crossed a line. You blasphemed the Holy Ghost. Because they did it through the Spirit of God. And you gave the credit to Satan. You will have no forgiveness in this world and in the world to come. That's why I heard the Navajo word of prayer. Heavenly Father, thank you, Lord, for your word. Thank you for the Bible. Thank you, Lord, for giving us the Holy Spirit that we can just take some passages of scripture that may be a little complicated. Or maybe we might be afraid to learn that we're not interpreting it right. And Lord, just thank you for giving us the Holy Spirit that we can just look at it and say, look, here's what happened. Here's what happened. Here's the only things the Bible says about it. But there's still some practical things we can learn from it. And Lord, I just pray that you'd help us to be motivated to go attempt to give the gospel to everyone before they cross that line. Whether it's in their lives as a reprobate or whether it's just they come to the end of their lives without salvation, Lord, help us to get the gospel to them. Bring the gospel to them. And help us to love people and to want to see them in heaven. Lord, I pray that you would bless the fellowship tonight, the rest of the evening. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.