Whose Side Are You On?

0:43 Good morning and welcome to Calvary Church. How's everyone doing today? Happy to be in the house. Hope you brought your Bibles. If you did turn to Mark chapter three, we're gonna be in verses 20 to 35 this morning as we look at a really fun chunk of scripture. If you've already looked ahead at what we're studying, you're like, what is fun about this? We're talking about the unforgivable sin, which you're like, I don't think that's a fun topic at all, Nate. But I think it's a really fun one because it's a very often misunderstood theological issue. And so it's going to be fun to dig into it and ask these questions. What is it? How do you commit it? Have you committed it? Has anyone ever been worried that, man, I think I committed the unpardonable sin, and I stubbed my toe this one time, and I said something, and I think I'm going to hell? Hopefully by the end of this, you'll have a clear understanding of what it is and what it isn't. I've titled this message, Whose Side Are You On? Whose Side Are You On? Hey, have you ever noticed how quickly people choose sides. When we're given two options, it's very easy for us to pick a side. But when we pick a side, I find people pick a side. And if anyone else picks a side other than the one they've chosen, it becomes a big confrontation, right? There's a lot of issues where it's like, you're one or the other, and I will fight you if you disagree with me. Let me give you some examples.

2:08 This is a big one. A lot of guys in here will relate to this one when it comes to trucks. Ford Ford versus Chevy, right? It's like, this is like, if you want to go to blows with a man, you tell him that he bought the wrong truck. I mean, this is like a whole thing. There's whole Instagram and TikTok accounts dedicated to Ford people ripping on Chevy people and Chevy people ripping on Ford people. The one thing they have in common is they both hate Ram, right? I can say that because I drive a Ram. It's like a whole thing, Ford versus Chevy. Here's another big one. Coke versus Pepsi, right? Coke people cannot stand Pepsi people. And Pepsi people can't stand Coke people. It's like when you go to a restaurant, if you're a Coke person, they tell you that they have Pepsi. The look on people's faces is like you just slapped their kid in the face. My mom, when she goes to a restaurant, she's a Diet Coke girl. So if she orders a Diet Coke and they say, we have Diet Pepsi, is that all right? She'll literally say, no, it's not. But I guess I'll take a water. I mean, It's like the idea of drinking Diet Pepsi to her, that's the unpardonable sin.

3:15 I find there's usually more Coke people than Pepsi people. I'm curious in here, Coke people, raise your hand. Pepsi people, the few, the proud, right? Here's another big one, and this strikes home for me personally. Apple versus Android, right? This is like an ongoing debate, Apple versus Android. For me, I mean, when I start texting somebody, if it's green, not blue, I'm like, why am I even texting you? Do you even exist? Like, are you even a real person? If it's not blue, it's not worth my time to send the text. I'm like a firm Apple person. And actually, almost everyone on my team is an Apple person. I have one person who's a holdout. She uses Android. And I give her a hard time every single time when I have to send her a text message. Here's a New Mexico one. Lobos versus Aggies, right? Lobos fans. Everyone's a Lobo. Woof, woof, woof. Aggies fans. Any Aggies fans, the few the proud. Once again, you guys probably are the Pepsi fans too, aren't you?

4:13 Here's a fun one. Dallas Cowboys versus people who enjoy happiness. Why do I always rip on the Cowboys fans? I'm sorry. Sorry, not sorry. And it doesn't take long before people start drawing lines and saying, whose side are you on? Are you with me or are you against me? Are we friends or are we not friends? We're wired to choose a side. And once we do, we become convinced that we're right and everyone else is wrong. That it's not a matter of choice, it's we're right and you're wrong. And if you don't believe me, just ask someone if pineapple belongs on pizza. Oh, see, I'm getting different things. And again, this is one of those things. The people who don't want pineapple on pizza, that's the most disgusting thing ever. You're an uncircumcised Philistine. If you put pineapple on your pizza, that's what are you doing? And the people who love pineapple on the pizza are like, you don't know what you're missing. This is an ongoing debate in our house. My daughter loves Hawaiian pizza and we pray for her every single night. Friendships have ended over less, right? But here's why I bring this up. When Jesus showed up, people picked sides too. When he showed up, people picked sides. Some people thought he was a miracle worker. Some thought he was a lunatic. Some thought he was demon possessed. And some, very few, left everything and followed him. But nobody that met Jesus stayed neutral. And the same is true today.

5:50 Here's the uncomfortable truth. 2,000 years later, nothing has changed. You cannot come to Jesus and remain neutral. You have to choose a side. If you choose not to choose a side, you are choosing a side. You can't stay neutral. You might be here and think you're undecided. You might think that you're somewhere in the middle. You're like, well, I'm not one of those Jesus freaks, but I'm also not a heathen either. I'm kind of in between. I just like being around him. But the words of Jesus in Mark 3, 20 to 35 won't let you stay there. And by the end of this passage, every person has chosen a side. And before we leave today, we have to answer the same question. Whose side are you on? Let's look at the first group. We're gonna see four groups of people. This is really four different responses to Jesus. Remember last week, we talked about the way Jesus sees you. And we talked about how Jesus looks at you, how he responds to you, how he sees you.

6:47 This week is really how we look at Jesus, how we see Jesus, and how we respond to Jesus. And we're going to see four different responses. We're going to see those who misunderstood him, those who opposed him, those who rejected him, and those who followed him. Let's look at our first group, those who misunderstood him, and look at verses 20 to 21. Then the multitude came together again. Remember, throughout this entire book of Mark, we keep seeing this multitude, this large group of people following Jesus wherever he goes, and they're here again. The multitude came together again so they could not so much as eat bread. But when his own people heard about this, they went out to lay hold of him, for they said, he is out of his mind. Let's stop there. Now, I wanna show you who these people are because it says when his own people.

7:41 So who are these people? Are they the disciples? Are they his friends? Is it part of the crowd? Well, the literal translation for own people in the Greek translates to they who were from beside him. And it was a word, it's a connotation to use, those that he was related to. So it's speaking of Jesus's own family. Likely, it's speaking of his mother and his brothers, because in just a moment, we're going to see them show up on the scene, and we're gonna see some responses that he has to them. So it's his own family, his mother and his brothers hear about what's happening, hear about what he's doing and their response is, he's out of his mind. He's losing it. He's telling everyone that he's the Messiah. He's telling everyone that he can forgive sins. He's saying that he's casting out demons and people are believing him and the crowds are getting big and they're following him and the Pharisees and the scribes, They don't like him, and we think he might be in trouble.

8:40 So his own family comes to take him home. They say he's out of his mind. This is what I want you to notice. They weren't hostile. They were concerned. They're not like the scribes and Pharisees that they want to come and take him to prison and kill him. No, they're concerned. They think that he's losing it. They think that things aren't adding up. Again, it would be like if your brother started telling people he was the Messiah, he'd be like, bro, we got to get you home. Like, you need to calm down. to be, maybe you're out in the town with your friends, and one friend is getting a little too crazy, and he's drawing attention, and the cops see him, and you're like, hey, don't worry about him. He's just having fun. He's just out of his mind. They weren't hostile. They were concerned. They loved him. They simply misunderstood him. See, they were concerned for their family name. They were concerned for his safety. They had probably seen many messiahs come and go, people who claimed to be the Messiah.

9:32 And they could see where all of this was heading. So they wanted to seize him and bring him home back to Nazareth. And this is why I bring this up. It's easy for us to misunderstand who God is, misunderstand what Jesus's desires for our life are with good intentions. But good intentions don't always lead to good conclusions. And it's possible to know all about Jesus without recognizing him for who he says he is. There's so many people who think they know a lot about Jesus, but they misunderstand why he came. And I find in this day and age, a lot of people have a lot of wild views about Jesus. And people will just say whatever they want. Well, I think Jesus was this, this, this. I think Jesus meant this. I think Jesus wanted to do this.

10:26 and they'll have all these ideas about Jesus and they might have good intentions, but they've drawn the wrong conclusions. And sometimes people reject the real Jesus because they've created a version of Jesus that fits comfortably into their lives. They think they've accepted Jesus, but they haven't because they've accepted a false Jesus, one they've created, they've manufactured that fits into their lifestyle. isle. See, there's many people who are willing to sing Hosanna to Jesus on Palm Sunday, but who will neglect him for the rest of the year. The same with Easter and Christmas. We'll celebrate the resurrection, but we'll live as though he were still dead. Or we'll celebrate his birth and his arrival, but live as though he never came. Some people don't even know they're in church unless there's Easter lilies, Christmas decorations, a bride or a casket. Like, they have this false view of what being a Christian is.

11:24 And that's because so many people wanna see Jesus on their own terms. How often do you see this with people in the world today? They wanna see Jesus on their own terms. They don't want Jesus to mess with their lifestyle. They don't want Jesus to mess with their choices, no matter how sinful those choices are. So they'll say, Lord, don't tell me what to do, and I won't tell you what to do. Don't tell me who my girlfriend or my boyfriend or my husband or my wife should be. Don't tell me how to run my business. Don't tell me what I can or can't put in my body. And by the way, Lord, I need your help with this. They've created a false image of what Jesus is there that he's just there to help them out in life. He's just there to give them things. He's just this kind, moral teacher who loves everybody. And that's how they want Jesus to stay. They don't want the real Jesus. They've accepted a counterfeit Jesus.

12:18 But that's not the way it works, is it? We don't conform God into our image. We are conformed into his image. Jesus says, if any man come after me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. Here's the idea. We come on God's terms or we don't come at all. We come on God's terms or we don't come at all. And I see this as a problem in this generation. We see this revival happening, but I see a lot of people coming to God on their terms. They're coming to God with their preconceived notions, and they're unwilling to give God all of who they are. And rather than being conformed into his image, they're conforming God into their image. And there's all these wild theological ideas about who Jesus is and how he acts. And people create this counterfeit Jesus thinking they're following him, but they've built something on an unsolid foundation that will shake over time.

13:19 who are we to dictate to God what he can or can't do? It is by the grace of God that he's not already judged us for our sins. Scripture says it is of the mercies of the Lord that we are not consumed. And so we need to make sure we don't misunderstand Jesus. We need to make sure we understand who the real Jesus is, what he actually said, what he actually did. This is one of the reasons why studying scripture is so important. Knowing your Bible is so important. We're in this season of Jesus, people grow. And I find a lot of people have all these wild opinions about Jesus, but they've never actually read the Bible to see who Jesus said he was. They're making these informed opinions about God, but they have no understanding on who God says he is.

14:15 Look, you don't get to make an idea of who you think God is unless you first read his scripture and heard who he says he is. That's where it's gotta start. We need to know our Bibles. We need to know scripture. Reading your Bibles is important so we don't misunderstand who Jesus is. So his family questioned his sanity. They misunderstood him. Our second group, the scribes, they questioned his source. These are those who opposed him. Look at verse 22 to 27. And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, he has Beelzebub, and by the ruler of the demons, he casts out demons. So he called them to himself and said to them in parables, how can Satan cast out Satan? It's a good question, right? How can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.

15:09 And if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand but has an end. No one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods unless he first binds the strong man, and then he will plunder his house. Now, we're going to explain what this means because it's, again, spoken in a parable, so it might be a little hard to understand. We're going to explain what all that means in just a second. But I want to add a clarifying detail to this story. Matthew's gospel adds a bit more understanding to how this unfolds. It wasn't just random. Jesus wasn't just like with this crowd and the Pharisees just showed up and decided to say, that guy's Satan. That's not what happened. Matthew adds a clarifying detail that just prior to this happening, the crowd and the multitudes gather and a man is brought to Jesus who's demon-possessed, lame, and mute, blind as well. And Jesus heals this man. He casts out the demon. He heals him.

16:10 And after Jesus heals this man, the crowd, the multitude who is around him here in Mark were amazed. And they said, could this be the son of David? Now, again, if you know your Bibles, you know that son of David is a prophetic title. It is a title referring to the Messiah. So the masses, this crowd, these normal everyday people, fishermen and farmers, carpenters, they're seeing what Jesus is doing. Jesus heals this man, casts a demon out of him, and they say, could that be the Messiah? And it's in response to this recognition from the crowd that the Pharisees look on and they say, that's Satan. Why? Because they're threatened. Their response is a response of fear. It's a response that they are threatened on what Jesus is doing and what it means for their lives. Here was a man who had been delivered from the power of a demon, and instead of praising God for such a miracle, the religious leaders actually attribute it to the devil. Now, it's important to note that the scribes don't deny the miracles, do they? Because they can't deny it. They've seen it. They've seen demons be cast out. They've seen people be healed. They admit something supernatural happened.

17:29 they simply accused Jesus of working for Satan. And this was a process that had been building for some time. Jesus was a threat to the religious order of that day. He was a threat to the Pharisees' way of life. And all the things that Jesus was doing, the Pharisees didn't like because it messed with their system. The Pharisees didn't like Jesus' response to the Sabbath and the words that he had to say about that, as we already saw in Mark. They didn't like that he was healing people and gaining a crowd. They didn't like that he was speaking in parables with kingdom language. And this was escalating and building. And as I pointed out in our last message, there's a difference between doubt and unbelief. Doubt is a matter of the mind. We talked about Philip, right? Philip doubted. He couldn't understand because he was looking at things through an earthly lens, through his power, what he could understand.

18:22 Doubt is when we don't understand what God is doing and why he is doing it. And this is a normal part of the Christian life. There are times in life when as a Christian, you doubt. Lord, what are you doing? Why am I going through this? What's happening in the world? I don't get it. I don't understand where you have me or why you're doing what you're doing. It's normal. Unbelief is a matter of the will. Unbelief is actually a choice one makes. This is Judas we talked about last week. He made a choice to be in unbelief. The Pharisees didn't oppose Jesus for lack of evidence because the evidence was visible. People were being healed. You couldn't deny it. They didn't oppose Jesus because Jesus was inconsistent with his preaching and his living. That is to say, Jesus wasn't like us where he said one thing and did another. No, Jesus was perfect.

19:13 He was flawless. His preaching and his living matched up. Even Pilate said, I find no fault in him. Even his own betrayer, Judas, after his betrayal of Jesus said, I have betrayed innocent blood. The problem wasn't lack of evidence. The problem was an abundance of unbelief. And the Pharisees' response is but a reflection of every single person who opposes Jesus. Why do they oppose him? They oppose him because he interferes with the way they have chosen to live. And the Pharisees opposed Jesus because Jesus was interfering with their lifestyle. He was a threat to their lifestyle. He was a threat to their religious system. Keep in mind, the Pharisees had a lot of power. They had a lot of money.

20:07 They had a lot of control. And they're starting to see Jesus do things and say things that becomes a threat to their control, a threat to their power, a threat to their money. They're thinking, man, this Jesus guy, he's pulling people away from the synagogues. He's pulling people away from believing what we're saying. They're starting to follow him and believe in him. And it's the moment that the crowd says, could this be the Messiah? That the Pharisees say, well, wait a second. If they think he's the Messiah, then we've lost all of our power. We've lost all of our money. We've lost this entire system that we've built up that is serving us. We've lost it. If he's the Messiah, it all falls apart. And their response is to attack him. Why? Because you attack things that threaten you. When there's a threat in your life, the natural response is to attack the thing that threatens you.

21:03 And that's what they do. As a matter of fact, it was actually their religion that explained away what their faith should have embraced. They should have seen Jesus. No one knew scriptures better than the Pharisees and the scribes. They should have seen Jesus and their faith should have embraced him. But it was the religious institution that they built that explained away what faith should have embraced. See, they weren't looking for the truth. They weren't looking for the Messiah. Otherwise, they would have embraced him. Again, if anyone in this story should have looked at Jesus and what he was doing and said, could this be the son of David? Should have been the scribes and the Pharisees. And yet it's the everyday folks. It's the everyday people who recognize it. The people who knew scripture should have looked at him at the prophecies he fulfilled at what he was doing and said, this is the Messiah.

21:55 Guys, this is him, follow him. And yet they don't because they weren't looking for the truth. They weren't looking for the Messiah. And this is why people oppose him today too. Not because they've examined all the evidence, not because they've looked at his claims, looked at the lives of changed believers. It's not because of the hypocrisy or some inconsistent people, like many will say. It's not even because of the scandals of the so-called tele-evangelists. It's because Jesus Christ is a threat to their lifestyle. Because the relationship with Jesus demands change and they don't want things to change. They wanna be in control. And anything that comes in and wants to tell them to change becomes a threat and they oppose it. Which, by the way, is also why they oppose you. John 3.19 says, this is the verdict. Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. They don't want to change. They want things left the way they are. And now we need to understand something. In the same way that the world oppose Jesus, the world opposes you. In the same way that the devil opposed Jesus, the devil will also oppose you. You need to recognize you will experience persecution and trials and tribulation in this world. Some of you have gotten saved and you're following Jesus and you're saying, man, I don't know what's going on, pastor. Ever since I gave my life to Jesus, it just feels like The devil's after me.

23:38 It feels like I'm being attacked. I feel like so much has gone wrong ever since I gave my life to Jesus. What gives? Well, yeah, of course it has. Because before you got saved, you and Satan were on the same team. Before you got saved, you were on his side. You guys were fighting for the same things. You drifted. You went with the world. You went with the culture. You went with temptation. You just did whatever Satan wanted you to do. You never fought back. You never had the strength. You just went with whatever the enemy wanted to do. But then you got saved. Then the stronger man came into your life and bound up the strong man. Satan took control, gave you a purpose, gave you a hope, gave you a future, called you to something greater, gave you strength you didn't have before, set you on a course for righteousness.

24:33 No longer are you going with the culture. now you're counterculture. Now you're going upstream. Now you're going against the enemy of your soul. And he's gonna fight you. He's gonna oppose you. Every step you take, he's gonna be there to try to pull you back. Don't give up. The fight proves you have genuine faith. What if we started viewing the attacks of the enemy not as this thing that, Lord, take these attacks away, but Lord, thank you for these attacks of the enemy because it shows me that the enemy wants me off the board because you're doing something great in my life. It shows me that I'm a threat to the enemy's camp. And even though it's scary, even though these attacks feel like they're gonna take me out, I remember that I'm not fighting alone. I'm fighting with Jesus by my side. As a matter of fact, he's fighting my battles for me. He's going ahead of me.

25:26 He's coming behind me. He's putting a hedge of protection around me. He's mounting me up with wings like eagles so I can run and not grow weary and walk and not faint. So even when I feel like I'm gonna faint, I know I won't because I've got Jesus on my team. Whose side are you on? Are you on the side of the enemy or are you on the side of Jesus? Jesus dismantles their accusation. He says, how can Satan drive out Satan? If the kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom can't stand. If a house is divided against itself, that house can't stand. He's saying Satan isn't fighting Satan. Instead, Jesus is binding the strong man. The strong man that he talks about in this parable is Satan, is Satan. Jesus is saying you can't come in and plunder a house if there's a strong man there. You have to first bind up the strong man. Then you can come in and plunder the house.

26:22 I want to let you know, Jesus is in the plundering business. When we're born, we're born into sin. We're under the control of the enemy, the prince of the power of the air. That is Satan. Jesus doesn't want to keep Satan in charge of your life. You're in bondage. You're in chains. You're in a prison cell prior to knowing Jesus. But Jesus is in the business of plundering. He wants to come into the house. The stronger man than Satan wants to bind up and hold captive the strong man in your life so that you can be free and start living in a relationship with Jesus. He's invading enemy territory. Jesus isn't sharing territory with Satan. He's taking territory back. Jesus didn't come to negotiate with darkness. Jesus came to conquer it. Jesus is a conqueror.

27:15 He is a roaring lion, the lion of the tribe of Judah. And he is looking for those who he can show himself strong on their behalf. We're told in scripture that Satan is like a roaring lion, going to and fro, seeking whom he may devour. And that's scary, but guess what? The Bible also said the eyes of the Lord are going to and fro, looking for those who he can show himself strong on their behalf. So guess what? If Satan's a lion, Jesus is the lion tamer. And when you're in the ring with the lions, you don't need to fear the lions. You don't need to fear the claws and the teeth and the strength and the enemies and the battles. because you've got the lion tamer with you. And every mouth of the lion that opens, Jesus will shut that mouth. And so when you feel like there's an army and an enemy against you and they oppose you, know they oppose Jesus first and they put Jesus Christ on the cross and he died for your sins.

28:10 And because of that, he has now defeated death and the grave. He is a conqueror. And through him, we are made to be more than conquerors. Come on, if you're more than a conqueror today, raise your hand up and give God a shout of praise that no matter what the enemy throws your way, no matter what armies and battles come against you, you are more than a conqueror because the same power that rose Jesus Christ from the grave is alive in you today. And so you can stand firm and say, bring it. What do you got? Because I got Jesus and he's more than anyone could ever come against me. remember the story of David and Goliath? I heard my friend Jabin Chavez say it like this. Goliath was a conqueror, right? He was a mighty man. He was a warrior. He was a conqueror. David was more than a conqueror because David had an advantage Goliath didn't have.

29:06 I'm gonna show you. 1 Samuel 17, 26 says, who is, this is David speaking to Goliath, who is this uncircumcised Philistine? who dares defy the troops of the living God. I love that. Remember, this is a teenager, a kid, a shepherd, saying this to a warrior, a conqueror, Goliath. Who is this uncircumcised? Hey, why is David talking about Goliath's private parts? I don't say that to be crude. There's an actual biblical reason. Here's the reason. Because circumcision was a sign of the covenant. The Jewish people had a covenant with God and circumcision was a sign of the covenant. So here's what David's saying. We have a covenant. He doesn't have a covenant.

29:55 And if we have a covenant with God, we've got the advantage. He's bigger than me, but I have a covenant. He's taller than me, but I have a covenant. He's a warrior and I'm a shepherd, but I've got a covenant. He's a man of war and I'm a teenager, but I've got a covenant and I've got a covenant. And because I have a covenant, I'm gonna win because I've got a covenant keeping God, backing me up. when you've got a covenant, doesn't matter who opposes you because you serve a covenant keeping God. Every miracle and mark isn't merely compassion. It's kingdom warfare. It's Jesus taking territory back. Every demon he casts out is the stronger man coming up and binding the strong man and setting captives free. Every demon cast out, every chain broken, every blind man made to see Jesus is taking back territory. Third, we see those who rejected him. Look at verse 28 to 30.

30:56 This is where we see this unpardonable sin. Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men and whatever blasphemies they may utter. I want you to keep that in mind, whatever blasphemies they may utter. But he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation because they said he has an unclean spirit. So Jesus responds to them and he accuses them of the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. This is one of the strongest warnings and the most serious offense in scripture, the so-called unforgivable sin. Why? Because there's no forgiveness for the one who commits it. But what is the blaspheming of the Holy Spirit? I wanna let you know, Jesus isn't talking about someone who accidentally said the wrong thing. Remember, he said, whatever blasphemies they may utter, that can be forgiven. You can say anything. You can be forgiven of anything you've done, anything you've said. There is nothing you could say or do that God can't forgive you of. The unforgivable sin isn't about what slipped out of your mouth once when you stubbed your toe. It's about what your heart continually refuses. Blaspheming of the Holy Spirit is persistent unbelief. It is continually rejecting the Holy Spirit's work within your life.

32:23 This is important to understand. The Holy Spirit has a job. He has work that he's supposed to do. The work of the Holy Spirit, the purpose of the Holy Spirit in a non-believer's life is to convict them of their sin and draw them to repentance to Jesus. That is his work. To blaspheme the Holy Spirit is to not allow him to do his work within your life by bringing you to Jesus Christ. To blaspheme him is similar to insulting him in that you resist his work altogether. It doesn't merely represent unbelief. It represents a determined unbelief. Hebrews 2, 3 says, how can we escape if we neglect so great a salvation. That's the idea here. I've liked it put this way before. The unforgivable sin, the only sin that Jesus can't forgive you of is the sin that you're unwilling to confess.

33:19 The only sin he can't forgive you of is the sin that you're unwilling to ask forgiveness for. Everything else he can forgive you for. But if there's things that you are unwilling to repent of, if you're unwilling to come to Jesus and repent of your lifestyle and who you were before Christ and give him your life, he can't forgive you of the thing that you're unwilling to confess. The worst sin we can commit is not believing. All other sins can be dealt with if we believe in him. But once we've heard the gospel, knowledge brings responsibility.

33:56 Jesus said, if I had not come and spoken unto them, they would have no sin. But now they have no excuse for their sin. By our refusal to believe in Jesus Christ as the son of God who bore the sins of the world, we are blaspheming the Holy Spirit. John 3, 36 says, he who believes in the son has everlasting life. And he who does not believe the son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him. Those are Jesus's words. And that's why I said it's important to not misunderstand Jesus. We need to understand what he actually said and who he actually was. If we refuse to believe, we call the spirit a liar and we reject the record that God gave of his son. That's what 1 John 5, 10 tells us. He who believes in the son of God has the witness in himself.

34:50 He who does not believe God has made him a liar. This is blaspheming the Holy Spirit because he has not believed the record that God has given of his son. Now, if you're like me, my next question is, how does this happen? Okay, that's what it is. How does this happen? Because I wanna make sure I'm not going down this road towards blaspheming the Holy Spirit. So how does it happen? How does it occur in someone's life? Well, I wanna let you know, it doesn't happen overnight. It takes time. It's a process, blaspheming the Holy Spirit. By continued exposure to the truth of God and a refusal to obey and respond to it, we can become guilty of blaspheming the Holy Spirit. That is to say, you know it's true. You accept it intellectually, yet you don't respond. Here's the principle.

35:45 God never runs out of grace. We simply run out of willingness to receive it. God has enough grace for anything you've ever done. He never runs out of grace. Grace is always there. Grace keeps coming. But guess what? There comes a point in a person's life where he keeps offering grace and they say no. He keeps offering grace and they refuse. He keeps offering grace and they turn around and go the other way. That eventually he stops offering grace because they're unwilling to receive that grace.

36:16 And when you become unwilling to receive that grace over a prolonged period of time, you become hardened by the very truth that should have softened you. Every no to Jesus makes the next no easier. when you feel the spirit talking to you, drawing you to repentance, drawing you to God, you say no, the next time you feel that, it's easier to say no, isn't it? And then the next time it's a little bit easier. And the next time it's even easier. You get to the point where God stops asking and you stop feeling convicted and the spirit stops speaking because you said no so many times, you're hardened in your no, and that becomes your default response. And guess what? this isn't just true for non-believers. This can be true for Christians. There's a process in a believer's life called sanctification. The Holy Spirit plays a huge role in that process where he continues to reveal in your life the inconsistencies, the areas of sin, and he calls you to change. And a lot of people get hung up in sanctification because the Holy Spirit is in their life and they become convicted for a lifestyle that they were living in prior to Christianity.

37:22 but when the Holy Spirit calls them to change, they say no. They say no. They say no. And each time it becomes easier and easier. And you see these people five years later, they've deconstructed. They no longer believe in Jesus. They no longer have a faith. We're gonna see next week these different seeds that were planted in different soil and realize a lot of people who claim to be Christians aren't really Christians. They're just people who said no a lot when the Spirit's been calling them. See, the Holy Spirit doesn't force the door open. He knocks until the heart refuses to hear.

38:00 He knocks. Hey, wake up. I want to come in and I want to bind the strong man. I want to free you from his slavery. I want to give you life. I want to give you purpose. And he's knocking and he's knocking and he keeps on knocking and knocking and knocking until your heart refuses to hear. when you've said no enough times, when you've sat in those pews and you've had all the times when you've thought, man, I need to do this, I need to give my life to Jesus, you feel the Holy Spirit talking to you, but you say, no, not today. And then the next time you hear that same call, you're like, I still think I need to do this, but you say no. And eventually we become like the Pharisees where we sit in our religious systems and we've said no so many times that we finally don't even know the truth. And he stops knocking. because our hearts refuse to hear. And that is the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit.

38:56 Remember last week, this was the problem with Judas. Remember what I said about him? Well, everyone else represented someone Jesus changed. Judas represents someone who refused to be changed. He hardened his heart. Even though he heard God's word, even though he saw God's miracles, his heart got harder and harder. And that's dangerous business. He went too far, the point of no return. It seems there is a moment of decision in every person's life, every one of us. When we see our need for Jesus Christ, we feel the spirit calling and we either come to him or for whatever reason, we reject him. And that choice will have eternal ramifications where you'll no longer be under the conviction. The spirit of God is no longer striving with you. You have no conscience. You have no guilt, no remorse for your sin.

39:51 And if you stay that way long enough, there comes a point where we've simply gone too far. We lose all perspective like the Pharisees did, not only disbelieving, but striking out against God, getting mad at God, shouting at God, insulting God, blaspheming God, even attributing to the devil that which is of God. And the heart becomes so hardened that repentance never comes. and then the door is finally shut and God says, that's it. All right, I'm gonna stop speaking to you. There's a passage we get in Isaiah where Isaiah is praying for and preaching to a group of people, but they seem to have hit this point where they said no so many times that God was no longer speaking to them that God literally tells Isaiah, don't pray for them any longer. They've passed that, there's no getting to them. They've passed that point of no return.

40:44 I've given them over to the wicked desires of their heart. Their heart is hardened. Keep preaching to them because you don't know who's gonna hear and who needs to hear it, but you need to stop praying for them. That's it. There comes a time we know not when and a place we know not where when a man's fate is sealed. And when and where that would occur is only up to God. Only God could say when an individual has hit that place. Here's the point for you. you can't play games with the Holy Spirit. Can't play games. You can't ghost the Holy Spirit like an ex-girlfriend or an ex-boyfriend. When he's talking to you, you need to respond to him. If he's drawing you, you need to listen. Because there comes a point, and you don't know when, when he's going to stop if you say no long enough. And you don't know when. So if you're hearing the Spirit talk to you now, respond now. Don't wait, because you don't know when he's going to stop asking. Hell isn't filled with people that God wouldn't forgive. It's filled with people who wouldn't come. I'm going to say that again. Hell is not filled with people that God wouldn't forgive.

42:00 He stands willing to forgive anybody. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. John 3.16 says, for God so loved the world that he sent his only son that whoever believes in him would not perish but have everlasting life. God is willing to forgive anybody. Hell is not filled with people he wouldn't forgive. It's filled with people who wouldn't come. The only thing you can't be forgiven of is a refusal to come and ask for forgiveness. Now, I want to set your minds at ease. This shouldn't be the concern of any Christian, for this is not a sin they can or will commit. As a matter of fact, if you're worried you've committed the unforgivable sin, that's actually a good sign. You know why? Because people with hardened hearts don't lose sleep over their hard hearts. The point is, their heart is so hard they don't care. They don't feel convicted. They don't feel remorse.

42:53 They don't feel the Spirit speaking. They don't lose sleep over their hardened hearts. The very fact that you're concerned is evidence the Spirit is still working, that he's still convicting you. Now, you might be on a road to committing the unforgivable sin. So if you hear this and you start getting nervous, don't get nervous. You haven't committed it because the Spirit's still speaking to you, but it might be a warning. The Spirit might be telling you, you've said no long enough. I've been asking you to give over this area of your life. I've been asking you to completely surrender to Jesus. You keep saying no. You keep saying no. This might be a wake-up call where the Spirit is testifying to you right now, saying, you better get real or get out because there's no room for fair weather followers. You're either a disciple or you're not. So Jesus might be speaking to you and drawing you to a greater faith to really get real with your relationship with him. But if you still feel that conviction, the spirit is still working.

43:50 But for the person playing some silly religious game, this is a cause for grave concern because there is a point of no return. These Pharisees had intentionally hardened their hearts. They knew what was right, yet deliberately refused to follow it. And that leads us to our last group, and that is those who followed him. Look at verse 31 to 35 as we bring this to a close. Then his brothers and his mother came. Remember, they were before, they said, we're gonna go to him, let's come to him, bring him home because he's out of his mind. They finally get there to get Jesus, to bring him home. Then his brothers and his mother came and standing outside, they sent to him, calling him. And a multitude was sitting around him and they said to him, look, your mother and your brothers are outside seeking you. But he answered them saying, who is my mother or my brothers? And he looked around in a circle of those who sat about him and said, here are my mother and my brothers.

44:46 For whoever does the will of God is my brother and my sister and my mother. Now, Mark intentionally brings us back to the family. They're standing outside. They've come to lay hold of him, take him home. The disciples are sitting inside. Now, I want to point out, Jesus isn't rejecting his family. Jesus isn't, this doesn't mean Jesus doesn't love his family. We see Jesus loves his family. Later on, we see James and Jude, two of Jesus's brothers. They become great apostles and ambassadors for Christ. They follow him. We see mother Mary standing at the cross at the crucifixion with Jesus dying. And we see Jesus tell John, behold your mother, mother, behold your son. Jesus loves her. He has a relationship with her. This isn't Jesus rejecting his family. He's redefining family. Because following Jesus creates a new family.

45:42 Not based on blood, not based on heritage, not based on religion, based on a faith that obeys. Jesus says, whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother. Now I wanna know what is the will of God. If in order to be a part of Jesus's family, I have to do the will of God, I wanna know what the will of God is. Well, lucky for us, John 6, 40 tells us the will of God for your life. Jesus says, this is the will of my father, that everyone who beholds the son and believes in him will have eternal life.

46:20 God's will for your life is that you would be in heaven. Remember, all of the gospel is a message of love and grace. His will for you is that you would not perish in your sins. that you would not go to hell. His will for you is that you would go to heaven by beholding and accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. That is his will. So how do you become part of his family? Do his will and accept Jesus and you will go to heaven. That is the will of God for your life. The same issue that Face Pilot faces us. What do you think about Jesus? it's not so much a sin question as it is a son question see we approach this passage and everyone it's the sin question what's the unforgivable sin what's the sin what's the sin it's not about the sin it's about the son of god who came to take away the sins of humanity and the question is whose side are you on what do you think of jesus what makes you a part of his family following him the song for this series says it best i have decided to follow jesus i have decided to follow jesus so important i'm gonna say it three times i have decided to follow jesus there's no turning back the cross before me the world behind me the cross before me the world behind me i'm gonna leave it all behind i'm gonna leave everything that i was before who i was what i did i'm gonna leave it behind and I'm going to follow the cross, there's no turning back. Though none go with me, still I will follow. Even if my parents don't believe, my boyfriend or girlfriend doesn't believe, my friends don't believe, though none go with me, I will follow. No turning back. No turning back.

48:21 The simple decision to follow Jesus is the most important choice you could ever make. And he doesn't want just fair weather followers, but true disciples. Jesus isn't looking for relatives. He's looking for disciples. See, once you've been broken for your sin and humbled, you still need to make the decision to follow Jesus. Any life change has two equal parts. Stop doing one thing and start doing something else, right? If you wanna lose weight, stop eating donuts and cheeseburgers and eat a salad, bro. If you wanna make money, stop playing video games in your sweatpants and start applying for jobs. If you wanna find a girlfriend, stop wearing those sweatpants and start dressing nice. I think the younger generation needs to hear this. Some of these kids look like they're wearing pajamas to school every day. It's okay with me. I tell Seth, wear those pajamas. That way I get to keep you around for a long time.

49:15 This is also true with being a disciple. It isn't enough to just not do bad things. You need to do the best thing and follow Jesus Christ. This is the definition of salvation, justification and sanctification. We talked about this before. Justification, I'm a new image, a new creation. Sanctification, I stopped doing the bad things because I'm now following Jesus and the Spirit's working in my life. Stop doing one thing and start doing something else. Following Jesus changes your identity before it changes your behavior. He changes your identity. You're a new creation just as if you'd never sin. You're washed white as snow. You're part of my family. Now the process of sanctification begins where I'm gonna change your behavior. I'm gonna watch your growth just like last week. I'm not gonna push you too far, but you're gonna change over time.

50:07 I'm gonna do a work in your life because you're a disciple. Jesus said in Luke 14, if anyone comes after me and does not forsake father and mother and all that he has, he cannot be my disciple. Jesus is saying our love for him must be stronger than our love for anyone or anything else. In Luke 9, Jesus called several men saying, follow me. But one man said, Lord, allow me first to bury my mother and father. Now right there, a conflict arises. If he is Lord, he is first, not us. If he is Lord, he is first, not us. And we are to love him more than anything or anyone. And by the way, when that man said that, he wasn't speaking like my parents just died. Can I go bury them? What he was saying to Jesus is, hey, my parents are elderly. They're old.

50:59 Let me go home, take care of them. When they die, I'll bury them and then I'll come follow you. What is your allow me first? Is it your job? Lord, I just gotta build up my career. I gotta build up my job and I have to do some shady things to get there. So let me build up my career and then I'll follow you. Is it your family? Is it your school? Well, Lord, let me first wait until my parents grow old and die. They're not Christians. They don't want conflict. Well, I have too many earthly relationships. Lord, let me wait for my boyfriend or girlfriend to accept you. And after they accept you, then I'll follow you. At a more convenient time, I'll follow you. See, when it comes to following Jesus, you have a choice in the matter. You can say no. He's knocking. You can choose not to answer. You'll miss out on the gift of heaven, on the peace of knowing God is with you. you'll miss out on his will for your life, but you can say no.

51:52 Like Judas, like Pharaoh, like the scribes and the Pharisees, you can harden your heart, resist the Holy Spirit, and tell him to leave you alone. And he will. Trust me, it's not what you want, but he will. Or you can follow. I love how Mark ends this section. It starts with people misunderstanding Jesus, and it ends with Jesus inviting people into his family.

52:16 The question isn't, did I commit the unpardonable sin? The question is, whose side am I on? The question is, what are you gonna do with Jesus today? Because every person in Mark 3 ends up on one of four sides, those who misunderstood him, those who opposed him, those who rejected him, and those who followed him. And every person in this room is somewhere in that story. The warning is real, but the invitation is so much greater. The same Jesus who warned about hard hearts also opened his arms and said, whoever does the will of God, you're my family. The greatest evidence of a soft heart is that it still responds to God's voice. So I ask you, is your heart still hearing the call of the Holy Spirit? Has he been asking you to do something radical to change your life, to leave behind your old sinful ways and to start following him? Have you done the will of God? Have you decided to follow him, remember, every no to God makes the next no easier. So let's make it easy. Stop saying no. Just say yes. Here I am, Lord. Use me. Lord, we thank you for your word.

53:30 We thank you for the encouragement that it brings us, Lord, for those of us who feel like we're misunderstood by our family or our friends. They don't understand our relationship with you. Those who feel like we're being attacked and opposed by the world. Lord, we're reminded that you have defeated this world. You have defeated sin and death and the grave. And through you, Lord, we are made more than conquerors. Lord, there might be some in here who oppose you.

53:58 They like the idea of you, but they don't want to allow you to change things. They're threatened by you. They're threatened by what you're gonna do in their life and they want things to stay the same. Lord, there's some here who might be in the process of rejecting you. That they just keep saying no. Every call, every word they hear from you, the answer is no, no, no. Lord, they've sat in this exact position many times before. I believe right now in this room, the Holy Spirit is speaking to some people. You're drawing them. You're drawing them to repentance. You're drawing them to everlasting life. And even now they're thinking in their head about the excuse. He says, well, no, I can't because I've got lunch and he always goes over and I'm sick of him going over. And so I gotta get out of here and get to the parking lot. And my kids are in Bible Island. I gotta pick them up.

54:49 It's called Calvary Kids now. I don't know why I called the Bible Island. You have all these thoughts going in your head. That's the enemy trying to distract you and pull you away from what Jesus is speaking to you. Come all you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest. stop saying no respond to Jesus and say yes. you don't know how long that voice is going to still be speaking to you. Say yes before you stop hearing it. if there's anyone in here who would like to give their lives to Jesus, maybe you've misunderstood him. Maybe you've opposed him. Maybe you look at your life and you realize you've been in the process of rejecting him and it scares you. If it scares you, that means the spirit speaking to you, but it might be a warning sign. Stop rejecting him. And today, right now, decide to be a part of his family and follow him. If that's you and you want to receive Jesus Christ, would you just raise up your hand? If the spirit is speaking to you right now. Listen to the call of the Spirit. Come to him. Amen. Over here to my left, I see your hand.

55:58 Raise it up high so I can see it. Over here to my right, over there in the middle, just like you're reaching out to Jesus, asking him to heal you, to touch you. Put it up high. Anyone else? if you're in the balcony, you're in the amphitheater, the family room, you raise your hand up, someone will acknowledge you. Anyone else, this is your moment. You've had these moments before. You have this moment now.

56:29 Remember, hell is not filled with people that Jesus wouldn't forgive. It's filled with people who wouldn't come. Anyone else who needs to come right now before we close in prayer, amen. Well, Lord, I thank you for these people who have acknowledged their need for you. God, I pray you'd do a work in their life. I pray that they would not be blaspheming the Holy Spirit, but your Holy Spirit would dwell inside them. They'd feel your presence. Lord, you'd seal within them salvation, God. That just as it says your will is that we would be in heaven in eternity by believing and calling on your son, Jesus Christ. so if you raise your hand up would you just say this prayer after me it's a simple prayer what you're doing is you're opening the door he's been knocking you're opening the door you're saying lord come in my life is yours bind up that strong man free me from his chains and bondage and give me a new life so repeat this after me say lord i know that i'm a sinner i know that i've done many things that have hurt you but Lord I believe you died for those things and I believe you rose from the dead so Lord I repent of my sin I turn from my old life and I turn to you fill me with your Holy Spirit help me to live for you in Jesus name I pray and everyone who agreed said amen