HopeLives365

Guest (Male): In everything I do in my life, I want to please God. The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Godhead speaking to your heart right now to lead you to understand the beauty of Christ's righteousness. And our response is: yes, Lord.

Announcer: This is HopeLives365 with Pastor Mark Finley. Today's message: "The Unpardonable Sin, Part Two." Enjoy and remember you can always catch up with past messages and stay up-to-date with HopeLives365 and Pastor Mark by going to hopelives365.com. And now, Pastor Mark Finley.

Mark Finley: The Bible says, "Set not your affection on things on earth, but on things in heaven." Colossians 3:1 and 2. Now look, the Holy Spirit convicts us of sin. It may be some relationship that you're hiding from your wife that you know is not in harmony with God's will.

It might be some violation of the law of God and the commandments of God that you are secretly pursuing. It may be the failure to be faithful in your tithe and offering. I don't know what it may be, but is the Holy Spirit convicting you of anything? It may be that you've been angry and just burst forth with that anger. It may be the lack of forgiveness. Is the Holy Spirit convicting you of something?

Now, the unpardonable sin is not the first denial of the Holy Spirit's impact on our lives. I'm so glad that God is so merciful, God is so gracious, God is so patient, he bears long with us. But if you never put the first brick in the wall, you're never going to put the last brick in the wall.

The unpardonable sin is not that first brick, it's not that first denial, but it's that repeated denial. And once we develop a pattern of denial of the Holy Spirit, soon we no longer hear the convicting voice of the Spirit of God, and soon there is silence in the soul.

Notice the second work of the Holy Spirit. "When he has come," verse 8, "he will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment." Notice what he does. Verse 8: he convicts the world of sin, of righteousness. Let's talk a little bit about that. What does it mean that the Holy Spirit convicts us of righteousness?

The Holy Spirit convicts us not only of sin, but of righteousness. Here the Bible says that the Holy Spirit's role is to reveal righteousness. That is the righteousness of Christ. That is the grace and mercy of Christ. That is how good Jesus is.

So the Holy Spirit reveals to me my sin and I see my sinfulness, but he doesn't leave me there wallowing in my sin. He leads me to see Jesus in all of his goodness, in all of his grace, in all of his mercy, in all of his righteousness. And I see that everything I am not, he is. Everything I need, he has.

Where I have failed, he has achieved. Where I have fallen, he has stood firm. Where I have yielded to temptation, he has resisted temptation. So I come to Jesus and say, "Jesus, I've sinned, and I confess my sin to you. Cover me with your righteousness. Cover me with the magnificent purity of your character. Lord, I want to live in Jesus. And Lord, cleanse me from those sins that really cause me to fall. Cleanse me from all that, Lord."

So the Holy Spirit's work, convicting us of sin but to reveal the beauty, the graciousness of Christ, his righteousness. Righteousness also has another meaning, not simply the righteousness of Jesus as important as that is, that covers my sin, but the right living of Jesus. Righteousness is right living. The right living of Jesus that becomes the model or the example of my life, the pattern of my life, the example of my life.

So the Holy Spirit convicts us of how to live. The Holy Spirit reveals to us the example of Christ's life. And then it says he'll convict the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment. So you have conviction, you have instruction, and you have urgency of judgment.

What does it mean of judgment? First, that Satan has been cast out of heaven and judged by God, and therefore his way of life is the way of rebellion, and God leads us from that to him. So it's judgment upon Satan, judgment upon sin, and understanding that there will be a final judgment.

Remember Revelation 14:7. "Fear God and give glory to him, for the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him that made heaven, earth, sea, and the fountains of waters." So before Christ comes, there will be a judgment. That's why the Bible says in Revelation 22:11 and 12, "He that is righteous let him be righteous still. He that is holy let him be holy still. He that is filthy let him be filthy still. He that is clean let him be clean still."

Behold, verse 12: "My reward is with me, and I come to give my reward to every man." Let me read it exactly so we don't miss it, so I don't stumble over the passage. Revelation chapter 22, we're looking there at verse 12. "Behold, I come quickly, my reward is with me, to give everyone according to his work."

So if Jesus is coming to give out the rewards, there must be a judgment preliminary to his coming to determine who receives what reward when he comes, right? So what's the work of the Holy Spirit? The work of the Holy Spirit is to convict us of sin, to instruct us in righteousness, and to warn us of the coming judgment.

If a person repeatedly denies the Holy Spirit's convicting voice and rejects the Holy Spirit's influence, their heart becomes hard and they're incapable of hearing the voice of God. This happened to many in the Hebrew nation, happened to many in Israel. The Bible talks about that in Hebrews 3:7-10.

Look at Hebrews chapter 3, verse 7. "Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in rebellion." So look: today, if you'll hear his voice. I say to you today: if you'll hear his voice, listen to the voice of God. Let God convict you of sin. Let God reveal righteousness to you.

Let God show you the urgency of the judgment that every one of us one day will stand with our lives before God. Do not harden your heart. Open your heart to Jesus and accept him as personal savior. What is the unpardonable sin? It's the repeated denial of the Holy Spirit's working on our heart.

We find that Pharaoh hardened his heart, Judas hardened his heart, and some in Israel hardened their hearts. Now remember, though, many of the early Christians, in fact most of them, were of Jewish descent. Why? Because they listened to the convicting power of the Holy Spirit. 3,000 baptized on the Day of Pentecost. They saw the righteousness of Christ, they understood judgment, and they responded to it.

Now, when we talk about the Holy Spirit and rejecting or accepting the Holy Spirit, we're not talking about rejecting a power. We're not talking about rejecting a rebellion against the force or denying the influence of some vague personality. We are talking about the third person of the Godhead.

Did you notice here in John chapter 16? I just want you to notice in John chapter 16, at least ten times the Holy Spirit is mentioned as the third person of the Godhead. At least ten times in John 16. Let me show you that. So we're not talking about some vague force, we're talking about the third person of the Godhead, as real a person as the Father and the Son.

Look at John chapter 16, verse 7. "Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it's to your advantage that I go away, for if I go not away, the helper"—that's not some influence—"will not come to you. But if I depart, I will send him to you." Notice "him." Send him, third person of the Godhead.

"When he has come, he will convict the world of sin." You know, this is not some "it" will convict, it's not some vague thing. Ten times! Look, verse 8: "When he has come, he will convict." You let your eyes drop down to verse 13. "However, when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth. For he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak. He will tell you things to come."

"He will glorify me," verse 14, "he will glorify me. He will take of what is mine. He will take of what is mine to declare it to you." Ten times the Bible says "him," "his," or "he." Who is the Holy Spirit? He is the divine third person of the Godhead that existed with the Father and Son from eternity and is universal in his appeal to all humanity.

Now, I want you to see some aspects of the Holy Spirit there. This couldn't possibly be simply some power or force. It has to be the third person of the Godhead. You say, how do you know that? Well, look, for example, at verse 13. "When he, the Spirit, is come, he will guide you." Can a force guide you? Absolutely not.

"He will not speak." Does a force speak? "On his own authority, but whatever he hears." So the Holy Spirit does what? He guides, he speaks, he hears, he will tell you. He tells. He will take what is mine. He declares. So you look at what the Holy Spirit does. He guides, he speaks, he hears, he tells, he declares.

The Holy Spirit's attributes are those of the divine third person of the Godhead. And when you look, for example, at Ephesians 4, verse 30. Ephesians 4:30 says, "Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by which you were sealed for the day of redemption." Do not grieve the Holy Spirit. Can you grieve something that does not have divine personality, is not a divine person? You don't grieve an influence. You don't grieve a power.

Or, for example, look over at Romans chapter 8. Here's Romans 8 and we're going to look here at Romans 8, verse 27 and 28. Speaking about the Holy Spirit: "Now he who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is." Wait a minute. I mean, how could it be any clearer than that? The Holy Spirit has a what? Has a mind.

The Holy Spirit has a mind. So with a mind, you have to think, you have to reason. That's not some influence. It says here: "Now he who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is. He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God." So the Holy Spirit has a what? A mind. And what does the Holy Spirit do? He makes intercession for us.

When Jesus is about ready to leave his disciples, he utters some of the most important words that Christ has ever uttered to them. He says to them in Matthew chapter 28, he's giving them the Great Commission accompanied by the great promise. And he says: "All authority," Matthew 28:18 to 20, "all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them"

Now don't miss this: "in the name of the Father, and the name of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, in the name of the Holy Spirit." So the Holy Spirit has a name. The Holy Spirit has a name. Look: name of the Father, the name of the Son, the name of the Holy Spirit. Here you have the divine attributes of the Godhead.

The Father has existed from eternity. The Son has existed from eternity. The Holy Spirit has existed from eternity. And together, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit work for the salvation of humanity. They are eternal co-equal beings. One of the most outstanding books that I have ever read on the life of Christ, other than the Gospels, is a book called *The Desire of Ages*.

It's sold multiplied millions of copies, and there's a wonderful statement in this book, *The Desire of Ages*, on the life of Christ, on the Holy Spirit. And it's commenting on Matthew 28, verse 19 and 20. And it says: "The Holy Spirit was the highest of all gifts that he, Jesus, could solicit from his Father for the exaltation of his people. The Spirit was given to be a regenerating agent, and without this, the sacrifice of Christ would have been of no avail."

In other words, if Jesus would have died on the cross but never sent the Holy Spirit, there would not have been this regenerating agent, the third person of the Godhead, to change people's lives. So we need the Father, we need the Son, and we need the Holy Spirit. If we didn't need it, Jesus wouldn't have sent it, right?

Now notice: "The power of evil had been strengthening for centuries, and the submission of man to this satanic captivity was amazing. Sin could be resisted and overcome only through the mighty agency of the third person of the Godhead, who would come with no modified energy, but in the fullness of divine power." It is the Spirit that makes effectual what has been wrought out by the world's Redeemer.

Who is it that convicts our hearts of sin? Who is it that leads us to the righteousness of Christ? Who is it that testifies of Jesus Christ? It's the Holy Spirit. But notice how beautifully *The Desire of Ages* puts it. It said sin could be resisted and overcome through the mighty agency of the third person of the Godhead. So it's the third person of the Godhead, that's who the Holy Spirit actually is.

It's the Spirit that strives with us. It's the Spirit that guides us. It's the Spirit that comforts us in trouble. It's the Spirit that converts our heart. It's the Spirit that strengthens us. It's the Spirit that empowers us. And if we say no, no, no to the Spirit, we grieve the Spirit. It's the Spirit that pleads for us. The Holy Spirit has all the attributes of divinity as the third person of the Godhead.

What is the safest way then to live? What's the safest way to live as a Christian? It is to say yes to Jesus. You remember when Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane, in Matthew chapter 26, verse 39 and onward. He said, "Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me." That is the farce of his trial.

That is the crown of thorns that would be jammed upon his head with blood running down his face. That's the nails that would be driven through his hands and the whip that would flagellate and tear the flesh from his back. Let this cup, the denial of his own people. "He came to his own and his own received him not," scripture says.

Let this cup, the turning away from his mother, his mother's turning away from the cross in absolute agony and horror she saw her son nailed there. Let this cup pass from me. The trial, the beatings, the crucifixion, the betrayal. Let this cup. "But nevertheless, Father, not my will but thy will be done."

The safest way to live is to live in harmony with doing God's will. That was the model of Jesus' life. Safest way to live is when God convicts you of something, say yes. John 8:29: "I do always those things that" please him. That is the safest way to live: to make your decision that in everything in your life, you want to please God.

That in everything in your life, you don't want to do one thing that displeases God. That you are going to listen to the convicting power of the Holy Spirit. When the Spirit says move, you're going to move. When the Spirit says give this up, you're going to give it up. When the Spirit says go forward, you're going to go forward in this path of righteousness.

When the Spirit reveals Jesus in all his beauty and graciousness, you're going to say, "Lord, I embrace you." When the Spirit reveals truth, "he, when the Spirit comes, he'll guide you into all truth." There may be truths in the Bible you've never known before, truths in the Bible you've never understood before, truths in the Bible you've never followed before.

But when God reveals it through his Spirit, you're going to say, "Yes, Lord. Yes, Lord." The safest way to live is not to say no to God when the Spirit convicts you, but to say yes, yes, yes. You know, some time ago, I read a story about a very wealthy man. He lived on a mountaintop overlooking a beautiful valley.

He had a palatial estate, a mansion-like home. It was beautiful. He had a four-five car garage. He loved his fast cars. And his driver retired. He had to go down to his office in the city, and so he was looking for a new driver. They looked around, put ads in the paper, on the internet, etcetera, and he had three candidates that he thought might work.

But he was not going to let anybody else interview them because, as a driver, his driver was very important. He put his life in the hands of his driver. Every day he got in the back of his limousine and the driver would drive him down this mountain: narrow road going down the mountain, windy curves.

So as he interviewed these applicants, he said, "Look, I am a very important man." First applicant: "Very important man. I've got a lot of business. Sometime we may be running a little late. This is what I want to know: how fast can you drive me down that mountain to get from my home to the office? How fast? I need to get there. And how close are you going to come to the edge?"

First guy said, "Look, here are my accomplishments. I have driven race cars before. I'm going to get you down there quick. You'll never miss an appointment with me. In fact, I'm so good I can go five feet from the edge." He asked the second man, second applicant: "How fast can you get me down?"

The guy said, "Look, don't worry about it. I'm fast. I'm fast. I know that road. In fact, before this interview, I came up and I practiced. I'm fast. And you think of any other applicant, but I can get you three feet from that edge. You're going to be okay." Third applicant, same question: "How fast can you get me down?"

This applicant's response was: "Look, speed is not my priority. Your safety is, sir. We'll get to your appointments on time, but I will never risk speed for your safety. I want you to know that when you're in my car, I'm going to stay as far from the edge as possible. I'm going to get you to your appointments on time, but you're not going to be tense because we're speeding down there. I will place your life as the most important thing."

Who do you think got the job? Obviously, the third man. Why do I tell you that story? Because the way to live as a Christian is to stay as far from the edge as possible. Not even get near the edge. It's not saying, "How close can I be to the devil's world and sin and be saved?"

It's rather: in everything I do in my life, I want to please God. The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Godhead speaking to your heart right now to lead you to understand the beauty of Christ's righteousness. And our response is: yes, Lord. Yes, Lord. Whatever your will is, I want to follow it. And I want to stay as far from the edge as possible. Let's pray.

Father in heaven, thank you for the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Thank you for the still, small voice that convicts our hearts. Thank you that that voice reveals righteousness to us. Thank you that you'll strengthen us through your Spirit, you'll empower us through your Spirit. And Lord, help us in our lives to always say yes to the promptings of your Spirit. In Jesus' name, amen.

Announcer: You've been listening to HopeLives365 with Pastor Mark Finley. We hope you've enjoyed today's message and remind you that you can find more in our many ministry resources at hopelives365.com. And you can support this ministry by going to hopelives365.com/donate.