I'm 99% Sure I Committed the Unpardonable Sin - Ask Pastor Tim

Maybe I've said this before,

the two topics that seem to be

the most sought after,

of the most interest that James posts,

it seems like either have to do

with the battle against
sexual sin and temptation,

or this one classic question

has to do with the unpardonable sin.

And we've dealt with it.

We had a special -

we filmed a special interview basically

where I dealt with that,

and then have we ever dealt with it

in any other APT's?

Five times?

So, that's how often
this situation comes up.

Let me read it to you.

"I've committed the unforgivable sin -

99% chance.

I just want to ask you

what happens when you commit it?

Because here's what happened to me.

Everything went away.

Honestly, everything.

Even temptations now - I have none."

I don't think that's exactly
what he means to say.

I think he means that
even with temptations,

everything has gone away.

He has no ability to resist or fight

I think is what he means.

"Emotions - I have only fear.

I don't even love my family anymore.

It all happened two days ago

after I blasphemed the Holy Spirit

in my mind.

I didn't mean the words that I said,

but somehow I said them from my heart

in my mind.

It was just like in one
second, there it was.

I cannot believe it.

I asked God if I've really done this,

and my conscience says that I did.

I've been begging for forgiveness
and nothing happened.

I cannot recognize when
I commit sin anymore.

I'm not being convicted.

I wish I was never born."

Now, let me just say this.

When a person is perceived

to be struggling,

oftentimes what that provokes,

or we think should be provoked from us

is pity.

But the thing is with spiritual things,

sometimes the things
that people struggle with

or the problems that they have

is not actually something to be pitied;

it's something that they
are to be blamed for.

There are ways of handling

problems that people have

that can seem less than compassionate.

I feel like I have read so many -

this is the classic question.

There are so many individuals.

I've spent I don't know how much time

with people on the phone

and by email,

and if I've spent that much time,

James has probably spent a
hundred times that amount.

Craig is answering.

He's dealing with that.

Do you ever give those things to Jeff?

James: A lot of the unpardonable
sin ones Jeff gets. Yes.

Tim: Okay.

So here's Ichabod Spencer.

This man lived about 200 years ago.

He was a pastor in the northeast.

He wrote this book.

I highly recommend it.

It's called "A Pastor's Sketches."

What this book is -

now you talk about photographic memory -

he must have had a photographic memory.

He could interview somebody

and then sit down and write

and record the conversation that he had

word for word.

And this is what we have here.

We have him dealing with people -

both Christians in struggles that they had

and unbelievers -

him dealing with them
in an evangelistic sense.

It's an extremely helpful book.

He deals with some problems

that are timeless.

They're not just things people
struggled with 200 years ago.

And here is a short chapter

where he deals with a young lady

who believed that she
committed the unpardonable sin.

And I want you all to hear it.

Because what has struck me

about the vast majority of the people

that think that they've committed
the unpardonable sin,

is even if you could convince
them that they hadn't,

I'm not really convinced these people

are lining up to be saved.

I think the real problem is

they think that it's no
longer within their capacity

to be saved when they want to be saved

and that's what concerns them.

Not that they really want to be saved;

they just want to know that they can be

if they want to.

And they've done something,

and whether the devil's involved in it

and whispering in their ear

and condemning them,

or trying to convince them
that they've committed it

when they haven't committed it,

I don't know.

How much it's their own conscience;

how much it's their own ignorance.

But listen to this.

"Her most common topic..."

This young lady he's speaking to.

"Her most common topic

was the magnitude of her sins.

She was such a sinner

that there was no mercy for her."

And he would try to convince her

the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth

from all sin.

Well, at this point, he doensn't know

that she thinks she has committed

the unpardonable sin.

He's pressing her.

He's visiting with her from time to time.

"One day, as I was urging this point,

and entreating her to be reconciled to God

by yielding her heart to the persuasions

of the Holy Spirit,

she said to me,

'I believe I've committed
the unpardonable sin.'"

Now listen to how he interacts with her.

"What makes you think so?"

See, that's a good question to ask people.

People who come along and say,

"I've committed the unpardonable sin."

Well, ask them why they think so?

Because what you want to be

is you want to be a soul doctor.

You want to try to help people.

Why would they think
that they committed it?

"'Well, I feel so,' she said hesitatingly.

'What makes you feel so?'

'Well, the Lord would have forgiven me

before this time if there was

any forgiveness for me.'"

And he says to her,

"He will forgive you now

if you will repent of sin

and trust in the redemption of Christ."

Now listen, no matter what anybody says

they think they've done,

I'll guarantee you this,

if somebody repents and trusts

the redemption of Christ,

they will be saved.

You say what if they've
committed the unpardonable sin?

I don't care what they've committed.

If they will trust Christ,

Jesus said He will not turn away anybody

that comes to Him.

That's what He says.

And so that's a good
place to go with people.

No matter what you think

that you've committed,

if you will repent of sin

and trust in the redemption of Christ,

He will forgive you now.

That's based on His promises.

"'No,' said she,

'I've committed the unpardonable sin.

There is no forgiveness for me.'

She wept and sobbed aloud."

So this isn't superficial with her.

This is deep. She feels this.

"Said I, 'How long have you been thinking

that you committed the unpardonable sin?'

She answered, 'I have
known it a long time.'"

See, that was a good
first question he asked.

What makes you think you've committed it?

Now, here's a good question too

when somebody asks it.

What is the unpardonable sin?

You know, you get a lot of people

that think they've committed it.

(incomplete thought)

Listen to how she answers.

"'What is the unpardonable sin?'

She answered, 'the sin
against the Holy Ghost

which hath never forgiveness

neither in this world

nor in the world to come.'"

But see, although that's
correct what she said,

that isn't what the sin is.

"He says, 'What is the sin
against the Holy Ghost?'

After much hesitation, she replied,

'It is the sin that
Jesus Christ mentioned,

speaking against the Holy Ghost.'

He asked her, 'Have you been

speaking against the Holy Ghost?'

'Oh no, I have not done that,' said she.

'What then do you mean?

What is your unpardonable sin?'

She gave no answer."

You see, that's the thing that you would

ask somebody is

have you been speaking against the Spirit?

I mean, you remember what those Jews did?

They were saying that Jesus
had an unclean spirit.

(incomplete thought)

And they were doing it maliciously.

They were doing it willfully; purposely.

It's not like a thought
shot through their minds,

and they're like, "Oh no!
I thought that thought!

Now I've committed the unpardonable sin!"

They're attacking Christ.

They're maliciously saying,

"He casts out demons
by the prince of demons."

You see what they're doing?

And she said, "No, I have not been."

"She gave no answer.

I continued to ask,

'When did you commit
this unpardonable sin?'

She said nothing.

'Tell me what it is.' She said nothing.

'How came you to commit it?'

She said nothing.

'What makes you think
you've committed it?'

She said, 'God would have forgiven me

before this time if I
had not committed it.'

'Before this time? What do you mean?'

'Why I have been a great while

seeking religion.'

He answered, 'Because you've
been so long seeking it,

you think it's no present fault of yours

that you have not found it?

But that God will not forgive you

because months ago you committed

the unpardonable sin?

Is that what you mean?'

'Yes sir.'

'Very well,' said I.

'I suppose you want nothing more of me

if you're unpardonable.

I can do nothing for
you if that is the case.

I may as well leave you.

You may go to your closet and tell God

as you kneel before Him

that you are willing to repent,

that you're willing to trust in Christ,

you're willing to obey God in all things,

and that it's no fault of yours

that you're not a Christian.

Tell Him that the only thing now

in your way to salvation

is that old unpardonable sin

which He will not forgive.

Goodbye.'

I left her at once."

Now, you think.

I would say that to this man.

I would say that to anybody

who thinks they've committed
the unpardonable sin.

See, that gets right to the point.

Are you saying that you're ready

to take Christ at His word

and trust what He's done on that cross?

You're ready to turn from your sin?

You're ready to follow Christ

and take His commandments

as your daily meat, your daily food,

and follow Him?

You're ready to do that?

You desire to do that?

And you're telling me

that you're actually repentant

and you're believing,

but God won't save you

because of that unpardonable sin?

You see, that would make God to be a liar.

Because God says if you trust His Son

you will be saved.

You will not be ashamed.

Scripture says that if you repent,

you will not likewise perish.

If you don't repent, you will perish.

If you do repent, you'll be saved.

God's a liar otherwise.

(incomplete thought)

So, he walks away.

Now listen, let me tell you this.

Too often, especially
with young believers,

you can feel like if people

are willing to listen,

you'll just talk on and on and on

and on and on and on...

Some of you are getting
involved in door-to-door ministry.

You do not have to talk to
somebody for two hours

just because they're willing to talk.

You can tell them the truth.

If they have valid questions,

you can seek to answer them,

but you don't have to go in circles.

You can walk away.

Do you notice that the rich young ruler,

Jesus didn't debate with him.

He laid it all on the
table, and that was it.

In that case, Jesus wasn't
the one that walked away;

the rich, young ruler was.

But you know what? Same thing.

You do not have to go on and on.

I'm afraid that many
less mature Christians

would have sat with this girl

and they would have almost carried her

into the kingdom.

He walked.

And you know He often did that.

You know, Asahel Nettleton -

he was a contemporary of Ichabod Spencer.

He was very greatly used

in the second Great Awakening.

He would walk away from whole churches.

He would stay away from whole churches.

If he saw that their
attitudes weren't right

about revival;

if he saw that they
weren't trusting the Lord,

they were trusting him...

(Incomplete thought)

It's not our calling to simply say

as much as we possibly can

to every single person in this world.

In fact, we're told things like

don't cast your pearls before swine.

Jesus told His own disciples

if they don't receive you,

you shake the dust off
your feet and hit the road.

It's amazing sometimes we feel like

we just have to go on and on and on,

like our multitude of words

is going to persuade them.

You know what? If they
don't receive the truth,

there's a place just to walk away.

And sometimes that can
be the most powerful thing,

because what you're doing -
you gave them the truth,

now you're leaving them with the Lord.

By the way, it's the Lord you need to have

speak to people through your words

more than your multitude of words.

"The next day..."

See, he walked away from her

and how she's not comfortable.

Her own conscience is going crazy.

"The next day, she sent for me again.

I found her as I did not expect."

See, he expected that this
was going to be beneficial.

And that she'd come to the Lord.

He said, "I found her in
the same state of mind;

brooding sadly over the unpardonable sin.

After much conversation and aiming

to remove the difficulty

and assuring her of her error,

she still insisted,

'I've committed the unpardonable sin.

I know I have. I know I have.

I know I have.'

I desired her after a few moments

to quit her agitation

and fix her thoughts on things

which I was going to say to her."

You know what he said to her?

He said young lady,

I'm going to speak to you plainly.

He said you're going to understand

every word I say.

That's good.

"Some of the things which I shall say

may surprise you,

but I want you to remember them.

All along through the summer

I've treated you with the utmost kindness

and indulgence.

I've always come to you
when you've sent for me

and many times when you
have not sent for me.

It's because I feel
kindly towards you still

and wish to do you good

that I shall now say
some very plain things

which you may not like,
but they are true."

This is another thing.

If you want to deal with people's souls,

you often have to tell them things

they don't like.

You see, he was a man who knew

when to walk away,

and he was also a man to say

hard things to people.

This is where I'm coming back to this.

You get a person that's struggling

with the unpardonable sin.

Oftentimes the feeling I get

is that the people want pity.

They want you to help them.

They want you to pity them.

They want you to feel bad for them.

They want you to enter in

to their pity party.

Now, you're going to maybe think

what he says is cruel,

but I want you to hear him very carefully.

"First, you say that you have committed

the unpardonable sin,

but you do not believe what you say."

Now, obviously, he got her.

Because he said to her,

have you spoken against the Holy Spirit?

And she said no at first.

And then she couldn't answer.

"And he said,

'you don't believe what you say.

You believe no such thing.'"

Now look, that's not to say

that there aren't some people

that you come across
who really do believe it

and may be under a
vicious attack of the devil.

Bunyan is a great example of that.

He was attacked with that.

I remember that happening to me

after I was saved.

It didn't happen when I was lost.

It happened after I was saved.

I was bombarded with these thoughts.

But he said, "you believe no such thing.

You know indeed that you're a sinner,

but you do not believe
that you've committed

the unpardonable sin.

You're not honest;

not sincere when you say so.

You do not believe it.'"

Anyways, he's just there -

he's pegging her on her own words.

Some people do actually believe it.

But I think what he says after this

is so applicable to so
many of these cases.

"Second, it is pride.

A foolish pride of a wicked heart

which makes you say

that you've committed
the unpardonable sin."

Now, I suspect if I would
have read that and said,

okay, what would you all say to her,

probably none of you would have
raised your hand and said,

"I'd have said that she had a foolish,

prideful, wicked heart..."

which makes him say

that he's committed the unpardonable sin.

You say, how is that?

Listen.

"Influenced by pride

you half-strive -

only half after all -

to believe you've done it."

And you know what he says?

You wish to exalt yourself.

You say how?

You see, that's what pride is.

Pride is when we exalt ourselves.

How can it be that many people

who claim to commit the unpardonable sin -

how would that be an exalting of self?

What sort of sin is an unpardonable sin?

It's like the sin of all sins.

It's like you're a sinner greater

and further and blacker and deeper

and darker and more sinister

and more debauched and more depraved

than anybody else.

You're the worst of the worst.

It's one thing if the Spirit
of God has broken you

and you can say like Paul,

"I'm the chief of sinners."

That's one thing.

When you're able to say that in humility.

When you're able to
say that in brokenness,

but you also are able to cling to Christ

and trust what He's done.

It's another thing when a person says

they're this horrible sinner

and then they turn around and say

but I won't take God at His word

and trust His Son.

He says, "you wish to exalt yourself.

You pretend that it's some great

and uncommon thing which keeps you

from being a Christian.

It's the unpardonable sin.

Pride lies at the bottom of all this."

And then third, right on the same note.

"You have no occasion for this pride."

He says there's nothing
uncommon about you.

You're just an average sinner.

"You're very much like other sinners.

It's not likely that you could commit

the unpardonable sin,

even if you should try.

I don't think you know enough to do it."

You see, one of the things that the Jews -

they had great light.

Jesus was doing these miracles

right in front of them.

They knew - even in their own councils,

they would say,

we know that nobody can do these things

unless God is with them.

That a notable miracle has been done?

They knew.

And they would look at that.

They would watch Jesus heal.

They would know the
miracles that took place,

and they knew miracles took place.

They knew He cast out demons.

They knew He healed the sick.

They knew that He did this.

And they looked at it and they said

the devil enables Him to do that.

He's just saying the unpardonable sin

is basically this -

it's the idea that you have all this light

on who Christ is,

on who the Spirit is,

and you specifically say -

with all that light -

you specifically blaspheme
the Spirit of God.

(Incomplete thought)

He's not even imagining that she has

sufficient light to do that.

"'Why?' said she,

'Is there not such a sin?'

'Well, yes, but you don't know what it is,

and you don't know enough to commit it.'"

Now, this fourth one I think is huge too.

He says this to her,

"You are one of the most self-righteous

creatures I ever saw."

So he's told her she's full of pride.

Now, one of the most self-
righteous creatures I ever saw.

Now you have to stop and think.

Why would somebody be considered

by Spencer to be this mass
of self-righteousness?

See, I think this is what you
want to remember especially

in dealing with people who believe

they've committed the unpardonable sin.

"You try to think

that you're not to blame
for your irreligion."

You see? It becomes an excuse.

"Well, I can't become a Christian."

"I can't repent."

"I can't fall down before
God in surrender."

"I can't." Why?

"I've committed the unpardonable sin."

In other words, it's not my fault.

And you know what it implies?

Well, I would do all of
that if God would let me,

but God won't let me
because I've committed

the unpardonable sin.

He says to her,

"You try to think that you're willing

to be a Christian,

and would be a Christian,

if it were not for that unpardonable sin

which you try in your pride

to believe you've committed.

You pretend that it's not your present

and cherished sin which keeps you

in your impenitence."

Now that's huge.

You see what he's saying to her?

The reason you're not a Christian

is because you've got sin in your life

that you love,

and you're not willing to let go of.

And what you're wanting to do

is blame God for the fact,

because God invented this unpardonable sin

and you want to convince
yourself you've committed it

and therefore give you an excuse

as to why you're not turning from your sin

and embracing the sacrifice of Christ.

That's exactly it.

And that is the feeling that I get

from most of the people.

You don't get the sense that it's:

"I'm wicked,

and I'm looking to the healing

that's found in Christ's suffering."

That's not it.

It's typically:

"Well, I can't become a Christian.

I just can't." Why?

"I've committed the unpardonable sin."

And what they're implying is,

well, I would become one

if it wasn't for that unpardonable sin.

I would become one if
it wasn't for the fact

that the doorway's been shut on me.

That's just not true.

The reason they're not becoming Christians

is because they love their sin

and they won't come to the light.

And that's what he's calling out.

"You pretend that it's not your present,

cherished sin which keeps you

in your impenitence.

Oh, you are good enough,
surely, to repent.

You would repent.

Indeed, you would,

if it were not for that unpardonable sin.

That's your heart -

full of self-righteousness and pride."

Fifth, "Your wicked heart clings

to this idea of the unpardonable sin

as an excuse for your
continued impenitence;

for your living in the indulgence of sin,

unbelief, and disobedience
to God every day.

And your excuse will not stand.

You make it insincerely.

It's not the unpardonable sin

which hinders your being a Christian.

It's your wickedness of heart,

your pride, your vanity,

and your insincerity."

And now he's done with her for good.

He says, "I shall never speak again.

I shall never again have anything

to say to you about the unpardonable sin.

If you had any real and
just conviction of sin,

you would never name
the unpardonable sin."

You ought to pick up on that too.

When a person truly has a convicting

work of the Spirit,

that Spirit crushes a man

from every dependence in himself.

A God-given, Spirit-given conviction.

That Spirit will cause
us to look to Christ

and find our hope there

and find our help there.

He's right.

If you had any real and just

conviction of sin,

you would never name the unpardonable sin.

"Some months after this,

she called upon me in deep trouble.

But now her complaint was that

she had a wicked,
deceitful, and hard heart

opposed to the law of God.

She became finally, as she believed,

a true penitent and professed
Christianity publicly.

But in all her religious exercises,

there appeared nothing very peculiar

and she never named to me

the unpardonable sin again."

In other words, he just said in the end,

she was just an average sinner.

Then he makes one last statement here.

"True light..."

True light.

"True light in the conscience is one thing

and a deceitful gloom in the proud heart

is quite another."

Do you see the difference?

You get individuals who feel like

they've committed the unpardonable sin,

and it just fills them with this gloom

and this dread.

But he's saying this.

This is what he recognized.

He lived in the day where I believe he saw

five separate revivals.

And he saw when the
Spirit of God was working

true light in the conscience -

it looked one way.

People felt the weight of their sin,

and they turned to Christ.

And it's as somebody has said before,

once you take a sinner and you show them

indeed truthfully their sin

and you show them the remedy,

the work's done.

They will run to the remedy.

You show them their sickness.

They will run to the doctor.

And that's totally different

than when you get a person

who has a proud heart

coupled with a deceitful gloom.

He says this, "When a sinner

has any just sense of his condition

as alienated from a holy God,

he will not be apt to think

of the unpardonable sin.

Spurious conviction is
common but useless."

Spurious conviction -

where people are convicted -

spurious means it's no good.

You're all riled up about something

that leads to no good end.

Just thinking you've committed

this unpardonable sin.

Anyway, I thought his treatment of it

goes to the root of exposing

some of the real issues concerning it.

(from the room)

So from that email,

what made you believe

with a limited context,

that this person who emailed in

was just like maybe one of these people

that Spencer dealt with

and not maybe someone like Bunyan

or when he was a young Christian.

I guess how would you maybe

differentiate them?

Tim: Well, I mean the thing was

that if you go back and
read "Grace Abounding,"

Bunyan's testimony.

When he's under attack

and being tempted to feel that,

he's running to the Word of God.

He's calling upon the Lord.

He's looking to Christ.

That was the same thing I was doing

in the midst of all of it.

Where you have a gloom;

(incomplete thought)

"I've committed the unforgivable sin;

99% chance.

I just want to ask you what happens

when you commit it,

because here's what happened to me.

It all happened two days ago.

I didn't mean the words that I said..."

So right there I would say

he didn't mean the words that he said.

That's not the unpardonable sin.

If you even start where
he started with the girl,

this isn't the unpardonable sin.

But the thing is, "I've asked
God if I've really done this.

My conscience says that I did.

I've been begging for forgiveness.

Nothing happened.

I cannot recognize when
I commit sin right now.

I'm not being convicted.

I wish I never was born."

You know, "I'm not being convicted,"

and yet, "I'm begging for forgiveness."

Well, what that tells me

is that what he's saying

is I don't even sense my sin;

I don't love my family.

What he's asking forgiveness for

is that this one thought
shot through his mind.

And I think the real issue

comes back to what was happening there.

Is this really a young man

that's been convicted of the Spirit?

True light in the conscience?

Where he sees himself as a wicked sinner

and is coming to God to
be pardoned of all of it.

Or, is it really somebody who's wanting

to blame God?

"I've committed the unpardonable sin,

therefore all these things are justifiable

because after all, I've committed

the unpardonable sin and now

God has put me in this place.

He's taken away my love for my family.

I don't have any conviction anymore."

I would just say this -

the same thing that was said to the girl -

so are you saying you would repent

and flee to the cross

if only it wasn't for this
unpardonable sin?

I think the difference is that Bunyan

was likely already converted.

I was already converted.

I don't doubt that the devil

can play with our minds and thoughts

and consciences on this point.

You come across the fact that
there's an unpardonable sin

and the devil will be right there
to tell you you've committed it.

There's no use going.

But I think the thing is

people do all sorts of things

where they heard about
the unpardonable sin,

the unforgivable sin,

this blaspheming the Holy Spirit,

and then what happens is

they make an oath;

they make some kind of covenant,

they make some kind of commitment,

they vow and then they break it.

We've seen that before.

Or, he has a thought that crosses his mind

and I think that's the question
that needs to be asked.

What are you saying?

Are you saying that you would repent

and believe and trust Christ

if it just wasn't for this
unpardonable sin?

I think he's hitting at the root

of a vast ocean

behind these unpardonable sin

questions and concerns,

that is a tremendous self-righteousness.

Obviously, he met repeatedly

with this young lady.

We only have the ability to work

with a paragraph.

So, yes, if Spencer sat down with this guy

and upon much further conversation

and digging have answered differently?

Perhaps.

But I guess, I have this sense

that people are saying:

"Well, yes, I would repent

and I would believe and I would

if it just wasn't for this
unpardonable sin."

That's a total fallacy.

(from the room)

I guess, yeah, answering emails

this comes up, but I've never

gone out evangelizing

and had a conversation like that.

Tim: No, typically that's
not the kind of thing

you'd come across evangelizing.

It's the kind of thing

that the very nature of I'll Be Honest

and the fact that we entertain questions

and have this APT

and James is available

and Jeff is available

and Terry and Craig,

that they're answering
all these questions.

There's a lot of people
who find this outlet

to try to get some kind of answers

for whatever may be plaguing them

or troubling them.