SPIN DOCTOR The first recorded words of the devil are found in Genesis 3:1. He asked Eve a question. “Did God REALLY say you can’t eat from ANY tree in the Garden?” That’s not what God had said. So we see from the first that the devil tries to twist God’s words. And the devil always puts a question mark about the statements of God.
If Jesus was willing to cross a dangerous, stormy body of water just to help one troubled man, you need to know He cares for you in the same way. He crossed the great gulf between heaven and earth to bring hope, healing and forgiveness to you. If you had been the only one who needed help, He would have made the trip just for you.
So, what is the unforgivable sin? Let me tell you what it is NOT. It is not murder. Moses was a murderer and he’ll be in heaven. The unforgivable sin is not adultery. King David committed adultery and God forgave him. It’s not divorce. The woman at the well had multiple divorces and she was forgiven. It is not suicide. Suicide is self-murder and it is no different from homicide—both are forgivable. Once you are a Christian, you don’t have to confess every single sin you commit in order to go to heaven. We confess our sins to stay in fellowship with God, but when you surrender your life to Christ, every past sin you’ve committed and every future sin you will ever commit is covered by the blood of Jesus Christ.
What is the unforgivable sin? Let me tell you what it is NOT. It is not murder. Moses was a murderer and he’ll be in heaven. It is not adultery. King David committed adultery and God forgave him. It is not divorce. The woman at the well had multiple divorces and she was forgiven. It is not suicide. Although the Catholic Church teaches suicide is an unforgivable sin, you don’t find it in the Bible. Suicide is self-murder and it is no different from homicide—both are forgivable. If you think a person who commits suicide can’t repent of that sin because they’re dead and that’s your attitude, then you don’t understand salvation. Once you are a Christian, you don’t have to confess every single sin you commit in order to go to heaven. We confess our sins to stay in fellowship with God, but when you surrender your life to Christ, every past sin you’ve committed and every future sin you will ever commit is covered by the blood of Jesus Christ.
It’s sad to say that there are multitudes of misguided Christians who have fallen into the trap of seeking the sensational and calling it faith. Every time you hear about the latest Elmer Gantry who appears on the scene claiming to do miracles, there are plenty of gullible people to fill the seats and the offering bags. Don’t confuse spectacular tricks with spiritual truth. If tricks and special effects were a testimony for truth, then we should all be worshiping Penn and Teller. God is awesome, but He doesn’t need to be noisy and dramatic. There is nothing dramatic about a beautiful sunset, but it has the signature of God stamped on it.
Experts are saying this crisis affects the global economy—every nation. Do you think God is worried? Instead of listening to all the pundits and so-called experts, maybe we should listen to God’s Word written 3,000 years ago found in Psalm 2:1, “Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain?” There’s plenty of raging going on, and there are more bailout plots and rescue plans than we can handle. But I love verse 4. It simply says, “The One enthroned in heaven laughs.” When we try to scramble around to fix a problem that is the symptom of the greedy, sinful human heart, God must surely chuckle. Maybe God is using this to remind us that happiness and security will never come in stocks, bonds, and possessions.
The same serpent who deceived Eve is actively trying to deceive believers today. And in our age of advanced technology, we have even more ways to believe lies. Abraham Lincoln said, “You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.” But it seems that Christians are some of the most gullible people around these days. We’re prone to believe anything that someone emails us.
Paul says Satan’s plan is to place a “think” veil between God’s truth and the mind of an unbeliever. There are at least three truths Satan wants to keep covered from you. He wants to conceal the truth that you are a sinner in need of a Savior. He whispers, “You’re a good person, you don’t need Jesus.” Satan also wants to conceal the truth about Jesus. He doesn’t mind you thinking that Jesus was a great teacher like Plato or Buddha. He just doesn’t want you to believe Jesus is the sinless Son of God and the only way to heaven. Satan even wants to hide the truth about who he is. Satan doesn’t want you to believe in him, or to bow down and worship him. In fact, he wants to stay incognito. If you tell a person without Christ that Satan is blinding their minds the most common answer you’ll get is, “That’s impossible! I don’t even BELIEVE in the devil!” You don’t have to believe in the law of gravity to fall on your face either, but it’s real.
God can take the most terrible situation imaginable and make something beautiful out of it. Our God is an awesome God and I’m glad He is in control. Whenever you go through tough times, you can either look for the junk or you can look for the joy. And in the end, God rewarded Job’s persistence and patience.
What kind of faith do you have? Is it a fair weather faith? As long as things are good, you’re okay with God? Or do you have a foul weather faith–when a crisis comes you go running to the Lord? Jesus said that the Heavenly Father makes it rain on the just and the unjust alike, so make sure you have an all-weather faith.
Some people wonder why Jesus even allowed the old devil to tempt Him. Didn’t Jesus have power and authority to banish Satan from His presence? I believe He did. Just as Jesus cast out a thousand demons from one man, I think Jesus could have kicked Satan right out of the desert too. Why then, did He endure this temptation? I believe He did it to teach us how to overcome temptation. Just as He refused to call on His Divine Authority to turn the stones into bread, I believe He refused to zap Satan. Instead He met him and defeated him with exactly the same resources we have available today: The Power of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. That’s why Jesus quoted three verses from Deuteronomy. To show us how to do it.
We also have an enemy who stands in our pathway of progress. We must understand the real battle takes place in prayer. We have a spiritual weapon with “divine power to demolish strongholds.” Are you using this weapon? Prayer is where the real battle takes place when we get up off our knees, then we go out to enjoy the spoils of battle.
The world began when God created the heavens and the earth. He created Adam then he created Eve. Perhaps you’ve heard the world’s shortest poem entitled, “Troubles” and the poem goes “Adam had ‘em.” That’s right. Adam had a lot of trouble. When sin entered his life, all the trouble began.
The devil accuses us to ourselves and although accusing us before God has no power because of our Advocate, some of you are still listening to the devil’s lies. He tries to make you feel unworthy and rotten. He slips up to you and he whispers in your ear and tries to make you feel unworthy. Don’t argue with him. It takes two people to argue. Whenever he accuses you of being unworthy, just agree with him. Say, “Devil you’re right. I am unworthy. I don’t deserve the love and forgiveness and grace that I received. I’m not worthy of it, but I have accepted it by faith.”
We are living in evil days, even secular columnists point that out. I was reading an editorial from the New York Times awhile ago and the editor was talking about how our American culture reads like a modern day soap opera. He said, “If someone had written down in a book the things that would happen in America, nobody would have believed it.” The truth is somebody has written all of it down in a book and it is called the Bible. The sad thing is, many people do not read it.
When Jesus died on the cross it was not God’s afterthought. It wasn’t a “plan B” It was something God planned from the very foundation of the world. The Lamb was slain from the foundation of the world. The Antichrist is going to blaspheme God. He’s going to stand on the earth and stand in the temple in Jerusalem and shake his fist at God and say, “God, if you are God destroy me right now. There is no God! Worship me instead!” He’s even going to blaspheme those who are in heaven.
The church in Pergamum is the third of the seven churches. So, let’s look at this church at Pergamum and talk about that and think about what God wants to do for us. The title of the message is “Kicking Satan Off the Throne,” because twice Jesus says Satan has his throne in Pergamum and Pergamum is where Satan lives.
