Year 2 day 81

Year 2 Day 81

Pray (ACts)

Read - Mark 3:28-30

Message - Alan Burke 

We focus on the negative rather than the positive. Think to yourself how many times has someone said something negative to me, those things that have hurt, those things that years later we still live with and now think to all the positive things that have been said to us? I hope that you were able to rhyme of positive after positive thing that people have said to you but more often than not it’s the negative things that we can rhyme off. I’m going to suggest that’s what we do with these three verses, we focus on the negative in v29 of the ‘unforgivable sin’ rather than the positive that comes in verse 28. 

Let’s start with v29-30 then go back to to v28. Here we are told of “…whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin” for they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.””. Think of what’s happening here, the pharisees saw the living word, they saw Jesus do these things and rejected him, they are blaspheming the Holy Spirit, they are rejecting the work of God and calling it evil. Their blasphemy of the Spirit did not arise out of their ignorance of the scriptures for they knew them, they were learned in them so this sin doesn’t come out of their ignorance but their refusal to see and their hearts were hardened. What makes this unforgivable is that it is when the Spirit is deliberately and knowingly refused, this happens when people hear the word and reject it.

This is something you don’t just fall into, this is an intentional rejection of the work of God and calling it evil. If you’ve ever thought is that me then I assure you this is not you. We focus on the negative rather than the positive, if the fear of eternal damnation grasp your attention, it cases you anguish? If that’s you remember that Jesus said just before, the promise of sins forgiven, look at verse 28, the positive it is that of assurance of sin forgiven where Jesus says "I tell you the truth, all the sins and blasphemies of men will be forgiven them". 

What an assurance, all sins and blasphemies, think of how Jesus said, whoever comes to me I will never drive away (Jn 6:37). Think how in scripture there are examples of God forgiving, those who had committed incest, murders, adulterers, lawyers, cheats, tax collectors like Levi, even Paul’s persecution of the church was forgiven. We will be forgiven if we turn to him in repentance and faith. Turn to the Saviour, trust in the Saviour, be assured of the forgiveness we receive not through what we have done but in Christ Jesus!

Pray (acTS)

Sing

WSC
Q86 What is faith in Jesus Christ?
Faith in Jesus Christ is a saving grace, (Heb. 10:39) whereby we receive and rest upon him alone for salvation as he is offered to us in the gospel. (John 1:12, Isa. 26:3–4, Phil. 3:9, Gal. 2:16)