Thank you for taking the time to read the sermon for this week. It has been a wild week where I live. A tornado hit the town just south of where I live and did a lot of damage. There was also a tornado just a little to the southwest of where I live. There was no damage in my town. Please pray that those harmed by this storm will be able to get the aid and the help that they need.
Last week, we paused our series going through the Gospel of Mark so that we could concentrate on Easter and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. Today, we are once again back in Mark. If you remember, I skipped a section and said I would go back to it, and that is what our focus will be on today.
Jesus had been healing people and preaching His message of love and forgiveness and the coming of the Kingdom of God. His own family thought something was wrong with Him. The religious authorities did not like Him and wanted to do away with Him.
In our text today, the religious authorities go so far as to say that Jesus was casting out demons by the power of the devil. Jesus rebuked them and said to them that a kingdom divided against itself could not stand. He also said that by saying that the devil was at work when it was the power of the Holy Spirit was blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, and it was the unpardonable sin.
For our message today, I want to focus on two things. First, I want to talk about a kingdom divided against itself. In the direct context of our passage, Jesus is speaking about how foolish it would be for the forces of evil to be using Him to defeat them. They would be working at cross purposes. Jesus by defeating the power of evil could not be evil Himself. A power divided against itself will collapse.
Now, let us take this and apply it in a different context. Paul in I Corinthians speaks about the church being like one body with many members. Each one has its own role and function in the life of the church. One member cannot go their own way or not function properly otherwise the body will not function properly as a whole.
When we are divided and bickering and being hateful to one another in the church, that is not allowing us to get the message of Jesus out into the world. Division causes the message to not reach those who need to be reached and helped. That is why we need to be one in Jesus doing His will and preaching His message. We do this when each of us exercises the gifts of the Spirit given to us by the Lord.
Now, let us look into this matter of the unpardonable sin. What is it? I think that from what Jesus said it is claiming that what He was doing in the power of the Spirit was actually a power from the evil one. Why is it unpardonable? If Jesus was not who He said He was, then we have no redemption. There is no pardon for anyone. Plus, to make this claim about the power of the Spirit is to insult the entire Holy Trinity as the Spirit was in the Son and the Spirit came from the Father and the Son.
Can a person commit this sin today? I am not sure on this. I think though that Jesus was speaking about this specific occurrence. He was there in the flesh, and yet the religious leaders still accused Him of being in league with the devil. There was really no hope for them.
The only way that we can do anything for the Lord is through the power of the Holy Spirit. In Him we live and move, and have our being. Amen.
Prayer Requests
Please keep praying that I will be able to feel better. I am doing some better.
Pray for peace. We need peace in this world. We need an end to wars in Lebanon and Iran and throughout the Middle East. We need peace in Sudan and many other places in Africa. Myanmar needs peace and so does Haiti.
Pray for those affected by natural disasters that they will get the aid and the help that they need.
For our prayer focus countries this week, let us pray for those in the nations of Sierra Leone and Singapore. Pray that many will come to know Jesus.
Next week, we will continue in our current series. I will post the verses on Tuesday. May God bless you all.
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