1. Bible Examples Leave the Impression That Men May in Any Age So Reject the Light, So Turn from God, So Resist the Spirit of God Who Calls Them As to Commit the Unpardonable Sin.
Pharaoh, of the time of Moses, seems to have committed the unpardonable sin. Warning after warning he received. Sign after sign, miracle after miracle came upon him to convict his heart, to turn from his course.
The One who sent Moses to Pharaoh was the "I Am." But Jesus said, "Before Abraham was, I am." So in the preaching of Moses, in the signs and wonders and rebukes, Pharaoh faced Christ. However dimly he may have seen the theology, the crisis experience faced him as sharply as it ever faced any Christ-rejecting sinner. And Pharaoh temporized, excused himself, asked for one more time, all the while fighting God in his heart until at last he came to a definite conclusion. He would hear no more of this matter! He drove Moses and Aaron from his presence. At last Pharaoh said to Moses, "Get thee from me, take heed to thyself, see my face no more; for in that day that thou seest my face, thou shalt die." It is significant that Moses said, "Thou hast spoken well, I will se thy face again no more." God's Spirit called no more at the door of Pharaoh's heart! Raging in his heart against God, Pharaoh chased the Israelites through the red sea and was destroyed by the waters returning to their accustomed place. I believe Pharaoh committed the unpardonable sin. I believe that as Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and hardened, and hardened, and was finally set forever and finally against God, so today sinners may harden themselves against Christ and be hardened by one rejection of light, and by another refusal to repent until there comes a final insulting and blasphemous reaction of the heart against the call of the Holy Spirit and a sinner commits the unpardonable sin and crosses the deadline beyond forgiveness.
Did Judas Iscariot commit the unpardonable sin? I think he did. The Bible does not say. But we know Judas heard all the wonderful teaching of Jesus, saw the miracles which He did. He must have been deeply moved and convicted in his heart. He must have intended to turn from his sin and take Christ as Saviour. We don not know all that went on in Judas' heart during those three and one-half years of the ministry of Jesus. But we know that he did not trust Christ as Saviour. Jesus said of Him, "But there are some of you that believe not." For Jesus know from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him (John 6:24). We know that all along he was a devil (John 6:70), unconverted.
At the same time, Judas was so moral and outwardly upright in character that he was made treasurer and carried the money bag. When Jesus foretold that one would betray, nobody accused Judas, nobody suspected him. Judas must have meant to do right. He must have made holy resolves. But he waited, he temporized, he delayed. He turned down the Saviour in his heart, though outwardly he was a disciple. And at long last, facing Jesus across the the last supper and dipping his bread in the same sop, Judas made the final decision. His character hardened. He balanced no more between light and darkness, between accepting Christ and rejecting Him. He cast the die, once and for all, against Christ. Satan entered into him, and he went out that night to make his wicked bargain and betray Jesus for thirty pieces of silver. I believe that Judas committed the unpardonable sin.
And though other people do not see Jesus in the flesh, they deal just as literally with Jesus Christ. They choose Him or reject Him; they love Him or hate Him; and after great enlightenment, after much wooing by the Holy Spirit, they may finally insult the Spirit of God and turn against this wooing, pleading representative of the Lord Jesus and harden their hearts forever against Christ. Today men do sometimes say a final "no" to Jesus Christ, as did Judas.
What about that Antichrist, that Beast who will rise, rule, and ruin in the brief but horrible Great Tribulation? I will make no issue of his case, but I but I believe that he, too, will come to such a clear understanding of right and wrong; and choose wrong; that he, too, will be so congealed, so settled in character, so pointed away from God, that he will pass forever the place of repentance and cross the deadline of mercy. In fact, the Bible seems to make both Pharaoh and Judas types of the coming Antichrist. And if those who take the mark of the Beast thereby commit the unpardonable sin and doom themselves forever to Hell, how much more will the Man of Sin, himself cross the deadline!
These instances and more in the Bible indicate to me that the unpardonable sin is such a sin as any man or woman might commit after great enlightenment, after many calls are refused, after many pleadings of the Holy Spirit are mocked and resisted and insulted.2. The Danger of the Unpardonable Sin Seems to Be Written in the Hearts of Men by the Spirit of God.
Dr. B. H. Carroll, founder of the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, an eminent theologian, calls attention to the fact that millions have been led to fear that they might commit which is unpardonable. Uncounted multitudes have received a solemn warning in the heart and conscience that they dare not go too far in sin, too far rejecting Christ, or they would be forever beyond the pale of mercy. Dr. Carroll drew the conclusion, which I believe has great force, that the spiritual impressions of such multitudes of great people are not to be ignored. God's Holy Spirit seems to have warned multitudes of people, in all ages, that He would not strive with man forever, that they should head Him at once, repent and be saved at once, the time for forgiveness should be forever past.
And as lost sinners have felt warned in the heart concerning the possibility of the unpardonable sin, so Spirit-filled men of God have felt led to preach on the danger of the unpardonable sin. I speak now not of fanatics, but of the most solid and serious and sensible of godly men. I speak now of B. H. Carroll, of George W. Truett, of R. A. Torrey, of D. L. Moody, of great evangelists, of the godliest pastors. Despite all that the cloistered theologians might say, preachers with a burning heart have felt impelled by the Spirit of God to warn men of the unpardonable sin. I believe it could be presumptuous, then, if we suppose that such a sin could not be committed in this age or in any age.
3. All Who Die Unconverted Do Cross the Deadline. God's Holy Spirit Does Cease to Call. Such sinners Are Forever Past Repentance. So What Happens to Millions at Death May Happen to Some Before Death.Do you say that the unpardonable sin cannot happen in this generation? But it does happen to every man, woman, and responsible child who dies unconverted, unrepentant, without personal faith in Jesus Christ as Saviour! People do cross a deadline. For there is no pardon for sin after death.
And we should honestly face the fact that before God lets any lost man or woman die, He decides to give them up. The death of a sinner never occurs unbeknownst to God. No sinner ever enters Hell until God decides to allow it. That means that every person who dies unconverted has turned down whatever light comes to him, has rejected Christ as far he knew about Christ, and has been turned over to Satan.
Now why should we suppose that every lost sinner at death, or before death, commits the unpardonable sin, and that no one else commits that sin before death?
Make no mistake; the issue is the same with every lost sinner. He must repent or refuse to repent. He must choose between his own sinful way and God's way. He must turn for mercy or he must hold on to his sin. He must accept Christ or reject Him. That is exactly the same issue over which some men commit the unpardonable sin.
Men who reject Christ and die unconverted today go to Hell just the same as they did in Old Testament times, just as the same as they did during the life of Christ, just as they did in the Apostolic Age. I believe it is proper for us to believe that the Holy Spirit who ceased to strive with the wicked sinner before the flood now sometimes ceases to strive with the sinner, too. I believe that those mentioned in Hebrews 6:4-6, who turned back from great enlightenment and conviction so that they could no more be brought to the place of repentance, are just like some today who have been equally moved by the Holy Spirit, equally enlightened. They, too, have tasted of the good Word of God. And if they shall fall away from this place of enlightenment and conviction, if they shall drive away the Holy Spirit from their heart's door when He seeks to get them saved, I believe that it will be impossible for them to repent, impossible to be saved.
Yes, there is an unpardonable sin, and today lost sinners are in danger of committing it.
