-
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.