• Pastors hate division. You would think that Christians would too.
• John Calvin said if Christians hated division as much as they hated those who disagreed with them, we would have won the world.
• Ill. It is said that when the British and French were fighting in Canada in the 1750s, Admiral Phipps, commander of the British fleet, was told to anchor outside Quebec. He was given orders to wait for the British land forces to arrive, then support them when they attacked the city. Phipps' navy arrived early. As the admiral waited, he became annoyed by the statues of the saints that adorned the towers of a nearby cathedral, so he commanded his men to shoot at them with the ships' cannons. No one knows how many rounds were fired or how many statues were knocked out, but when the land forces arrived and the signal was given to attack, the admiral was of no help. He had used up all his ammunition shooting at the "saints."
• The only battle some Christians ever get into concerning their faith is shooting at the other saints.
• Christianity today is definitely a house divided.
• That was never Jesus’ intent, especially when He prayed we would be one, as He and the Father were one.
Mar 3:22 And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, "He is possessed by Beelzebul," and "by the prince of demons he casts out the demons."
• Scribes in Jesus’ day were men with the official position of knowing the text and context of the Old Testament scriptures. They were known for a technical and accurate knowledge.
• There were undoubtedly sent to find a “technical” error or theological mistake in Jesus’ teachings.
• This is obviously due to the fact that the Pharisees could not trap or corner Jesus.
• They needed experts of the written Word, they thought, to prove Jesus was a phoney.
• These experts were not what they were cracked up to be.
• They say that Jesus was possessed by the “Lord of the Flies” and referred to him as the prince of demons.
• They said Jesus was casting out demons by the power of this demonic power.
• The reference comes from 2 Kings 1, when King Ahaziah fell through the lattice work of his roof, hurt his leg, and sent to ask Baalzebub (the god of high places), god of the Philistine City of Ekron, whether he would live or die from his injury.
• It was so vulgarized by the Jews, the apparently changed the name to “Lord of the Flies”, denoting filth, and proclaimed this to be the name of the prince of demons.
• Some have even claimed that Beelzebul is Satan’s other name.
• This became tradition. Jesus did not refute this, but by no means does he in any account confirm this to be a demon’s name.
• Jesus, in Matthew 10:25, only confirms that the Scribes were saying that.
• So much for the technical accuracy of the scribes.
I. Let’s learn a lesson here. We sometimes don’t know what we think we know.
• Man’s knowledge is incomplete and will be until Jesus perfects us in glory.
• Just as we smirk at some of the science of the previous generation, the next generation will smirk at our science.
• The same is probably true of our theology or at least our biblical knowledge.
• How many of each animal was in the ark?
• Moses did not go floating by Pharaoh’s daughter in a reed boat.
• The wise men did not go to the manger.
• These are things that we may hear, or see in a biblical movie, but they are not supported by scripture.
Mar 3:23-26 And he called them to him and said to them in parables, "How can Satan cast out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. 26 And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end.
• They were not accusing Jesus to His face.
• They were apparently spreading this among the crowd.
• Jesus responds by calling them to Himself.
• This accusation warrants a confrontation.
• Jesus makes His first point.
II. A house divided cannot stand.
• Jesus’ first point was, why in the world would Satan be divided against himself?
• This points out the absurdity of the claims of the scribes.
A. Why would Satan cast out Satan?
• Satan cannot heal. Satan cannot give life.
• Satan would not if he could. He comes to steal, kill and destroy.
• If he had somebody on his team that was healing and giving life, he would put a stop to it.
• The principle, however, can be flipped.
• What about our Church? Are we divided? Are we pulling in the same direction?
• I know we are not because I know some who are not pulling at all.
• What a difference we could make for Christ in Eula if we all pulled in the same direction.
• Satan loves division in the Church.
• Those who promote division, regardless the issue, are doing the bidding of Satan.
Mar 3:27 But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. Then indeed he may plunder his house.
• Jesus makes another point.
B. If you are going to break into someone’s house and take his stuff, particularly if he is a strong man, you better tie him up.
• Who is Jesus talking about, and what does that have to do with this accusation?
• If you break into a house of a strong man, you better do one of two things.
• You better either convince the strong man what you are doing will benefit him or,
• You better tie him up.
• Jesus came to seek and saved those who are lost.
• He is breaking into Satan’s territory, his domain, and take his stuff.
• For Jesus to cast out demons and take over the hearts of men, Satan would not have sat by and not protested.
• But Jesus’ very presence defeated Satan, tied him up and made him powerless to what Jesus was doing.
• Jesus was telling the scribes and everyone else, not only am I taking Satan’s domain, but I have defeated him.
• You will remember when Jesus started His ministry, Satan tried to strike Him out.
• He threw Jesus his best fastball, curve and sinker.
• Jesus knocked all three out of the ball park.
• The next time, Satan would throw at the batter, hit Him, and knock Him down.
• Little did Satan realize that this would drive in the winning run.
• 1Co 15:55-57 "O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?" The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Mar 3:28-30 "Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, 29 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin"-- 30 for they were saying, "He has an unclean spirit."
• Jesus then finishes this conversation with one of the sternest warnings in the Bible.
III. An unforgivable sin, eternal sin, unpardonable sin. The thought is terrifying.
• The scribes were actually attributing the acts of God to Satan.
• Thus, Jesus gave them this warning.
• There are many kinds of sins that are forgivable. There is one that is not.
• Such a thought gives us a pause, a shudder, a twinge of doubt and fear.
• Can we commit the unforgivable? Can we step across the line of doom for which there is no remedy or cure?
• Let me answer that by having you consider a couple of things.
• Blasphemy is “to speak against.”
• Why is not speaking against the Father unforgivable?
• Why is not speaking against the Son, Jesus, unforgivable?
• Why is speaking against the Holy Spirit unforgivable?
• What is the difference?
A. The Position of God.
• The Father represents to us the place of God.
• God the Father represents the Most High, Most Holy, Righteous reign of God on His throne.
• Psa 43:3 Send out your light and your truth; let them lead me; let them bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling!
• Psa 91:9 Because you have made the LORD your dwelling place-- the Most High, who is my refuge—
• It is a place so righteous, we cannot attain. We need a Way to God.
B. The Path to God.
• Jesus, the Son, represents to us the Way to God.
• Joh 10:1 "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber.
• Joh 14:6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
• Mat 7:13 "Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.
• Mat 7:14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.
• But we cannot find the Way unless we have a helper.
• Joh 16:7-13 Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. 8 And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; 10 concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; 11 concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. 12 "I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.
C. The Propulsion to God.
• Think of the Spirit of God as movement along the Way to get you to the location of God.
• When you study the ministry of the Holy Spirit, you always see movement, and that movement is always to God, and that movement is always through Jesus Christ, the Way.
• Let’s go back to our story now. Jesus had come to show people the Way to God.
• He did nothing on His own, but only what the Father did through Him.
• He received both the instructions and the power from the Father, through the Spirit.
• He, therefore, made Himself available to be used by God, through the Spirit, to move people to the Way of God.
• The scribes came with an attitude. They saw, and could not refute their sight.
• Therefore, they had to refute the source of power Jesus did good by.
• In doing so, they resisted the Spirit of God, who was trying to move them, lovingly and gently, into the Way to God.
• If they resisted the Spirit of God, they placed themselves into a position of not moving to God, not finding salvation and forgiveness through Jesus Christ
• Jesus warned them, acts of blasphemy can be forgiven, but the (progressive) persistent attitude against the movement of the Spirit of God will make you unforgivable.
• If you never allow the Spirit of God to move you into the Way to God, there is no hope.
• Dying while embracing that attitude of rebellion is eternally damning.
• There may be some pretenders here. The Bible said the Church will have pretenders throughout history.
• They look good to us, but spiritual fruit is not there. The fruit is not there because the Life of God is not in them.
• We have become religious, and we hope that is enough. Much like the scribes and Pharisees.
• But it is not enough if we don’t let the Spirit of God move us to the Way.
• Jesus is the way. That pull on your soul is the Spirit. I know it is not pleasant.
• But if you persist to reject Him, you will die in your sins without a chance for forgiveness.
• If you can breathe today, you can change that rebellion to God in your heart.
• You can say, Father, give me the strength to have faith. Help my unbelief.
• God is a Father of promise. He will keep His promise to you as He did everyone who calls upon Him.
