Software Vault: The Gold Collection/Software Vault - The Gold Collection (American Databankers) (1993).ISO/cdr19/ptonoret.zip/PTONORET.TXT

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Point Of No Return

Copyright by Joe Crews.
  All rights reserved.

The most fateful words ever spoken by Jesus had to do with the
fearful possibility of committing the unpardonable sin.   He
said, "Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy
shall be forgiven unto men:   but the blasphemy against the Holy
Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men."   Matthew 12:31.
No one can misconstrue the clear message of these verses.
There is a sin unto death.   A man or woman may pass over a line
which separates God's mercy and His wrath and not be able to
come back.   These chilling words of our Lord stand in stark
contrast to His usually benevolent utterances.   For this
reason, if for no other, they should be examined with great
care.
What is this sin which Heaven regards with such abhorrence and
loathing?  Why will God deal so severely with those who are
guilty of this sin?  To the human mind a great number of
depraved and cruel acts might fall into such a category but
which one of them would God count so heinous and horrible that
it could never be forgiven?
Occasionally, one meets an individual who wonders if he has
committed this sin.   His prayers seem to bounce back from the
ceiling, and he feels no hope of God's favor or forgiveness.
Yet he can't identify any particular act of sin that severed him
from the hope of salvation.   How can he tell if he has actually
committed the unpardonable sin?  Can a person really know?
Before answering all the troubling questions people ask about
the unpardonable sin, a glorious truth needs to be recognized.
We serve a God of infinite love and compassion.   It is not His
will that anyone should be lost.   He has made provision in His
Word for every soul to be cleansed and sanctified.   The
incredible promise of 1 John 1:9 applies to every man, woman, or
child in the world today:   "If we confess our sins, he is
faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from
all unrighteousness."
On the condition of sincere confession, God promises to forgive
any sin, regardless of its nature.   "Come now, and let us
reason together, saith the Lord:   though your sins be as
scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like
crimson, they shall be as wool."   Isaiah 1:18.
What a special assurance for those who have violated every law
of God and man in their wild plunge into degradation.   God
loves them still! There is no guilt too great for Him to cleanse
away.   He waits with outstretched arms to receive any who take
the first step toward His forgiveness and mercy.
Such a picture of God seems totally at odds with the words of
Jesus in Matthew 12:31, 32.   If the Father is so willing to
forgive and save, why should there be such a thing as an
unpardonable sin?  The answer is simple.   This sin is never
forgiven because it is never confessed.   It is never repented
of.   God will not force His pardon upon sinners.   They must
repent and confess.   Even the beautiful promise of 1 John 1:9
contains that significant little word "if"--"if we confess our
sins.  ..."   On the authority of God's Word, we can be assured
that every sin will be forgiven if confessed in faith and
repentance.
Various opinions have been put forth as to why this one sin is
never confessed.   Some believe it to be suicide; others, that
it must be some dreadful immorality or cursing of the Holy
Spirit.
One thing is certain--it is a sin! That is a good starting
point, because the Bible gives a simple definition of that ugly
little word "sin."   "Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth
also the law:   for sin is the transgression of the law."   1
John 3:4.   Paul enlarges on that statement by declaring that
sin is the breaking of the Ten-Commandment law.   "I had not
known sin, but by the law:   for I had not known lust, except
the law had said, Thou shalt not covet."   Romans 7:7.
Not only does the unpardonable sin have something to do with the
breaking of God's great moral law, but it also is an offense
against the Holy Spirit.   The nature of that offense is tied
closely to the primary functions of the Spirit.   Jesus said,
"But the Comforter which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will
send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all
things to your rememberance, whatsoever I have said unto you."
John 14:26.
Besides teaching us all things, Jesus indicated that the Spirit
will also "guide you into all truth."   John 16:13.   Every
searching student of the Word has probably experienced this
teaching, guiding influence of the Holy Spirit.   There can be
no true insight into biblical truth without the enlightenment of
this Spirit of God.
The third mission of the Holy Spirit is to convict of sin.
Jesus said:   "It is expedient for you that I go away:   for if
I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I
depart, I will send him unto you.   And when he is come, he will
reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of
judgment."   John 16:7, 8.
It is the special work of the Spirit to reprove or convict us of
sin.   When wrongs are committed, the conscience is pricked with
a sense of guilt.   Please take note that as long as we allow
the Holy Spirit to teach, guide, and convict, we could never be
guilty of committing the unpardonable sin.   But suppose we
refuse to acknowledge these three offices of the Spirit in our
own personal experience with God?  That is when people approach
the deadly parameters of the worst sin on record.
It is intriguing to study the actual incidence of this sin in
the Bible record.   At one time practically everyone in the
world passed over that point of no return.   "And the Lord said,
My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is
flesh:   yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years."
Genesis 6:3.
Here God speaks of the antediluvian world which perished in the
flood.
For over a hundred years the Holy
Spirit pleaded with that wicked gen-
eration through the preaching of Noah.   Although the very
imagination of their hearts was evil continually, a small
remnant of eight responded to the Spirit and entered the ark.
All the rest were swept away in the raging waters which covered
every inch of the earth's sur-
face.   After years of patient striving, the Spirit withdrew to
leave the stubborn resisters to their chosen fate.
Could the same thing happen again?  There is an amazing parallel
between the days of Noah and today.   Jesus said, "As it was in
the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of
man."   Luke 17:26.   The very same gross excesses are being
committed right now in all the great cities of the world.
Perversions of the worst degree still mark the carnal course of
every nation under the sun.
Why did the vast majority of pre-flood people refuse to enter
the ark of safety?  Many of them actually helped Noah in the
construction of the huge boat.   The Holy Spirit deeply stirred
them with conviction, but they would not move out to obey the
message.   Finally, God said, "Let them alone.   My Spirit will
no longer strive with them."
Is there going to be another flood?  Indeed so.   But it will be
a flood of fire, utterly destroying this planet and its
contents.   How is the world responding to the call of God to
enter the ark of protection and safety?  The same Spirit pleads
today; a similar message of separation and revival is being
sounded; and the Spirit of God is being treated exactly as in
Noah's day.

Insulting the Holy Spirit

I read in the Bible three things that people are doing to the
Holy Spirit.   First of all, in Ephesians 4:30:   "And grieve
not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day
of redemption."   Notice that people can grieve the Holy Spirit,
and the Bible says it will be done in these last days.
What else will they do to God's personal representative?  In
Hebrews 10:29 we are told that men will despise the Holy Spirit.
"Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought
worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath
counted the blood of the covenant,  wherewith he was sanctified,
an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of
grace?"   That word "despite"   means the same as despise.
Just think of it! They will despise the Holy Spirit.   And then
let's get one other thing before us.   This is in Acts 7:51:
"Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do
always resist the Holy Ghost:   as your fathers did, so do ye."
So there we have three things that men will do to insult the
Spirit of God:   they grieve, they despise, and they resist Him
just as they did back in the days of Noah.
What effect does all this rebellion against the Spirit have upon
the person who does it?  Almost imperceptibly the conscience is
seared and the heart is hardened.   In fact, this is why it is
counted such a terrible sin.   Sometimes people say, "I don't
understand why God should consider this the worst thing that can
be done."   I'll tell you why:   because the Holy Spirit is the
only way God can reach an individual.   There is no other way
for God to save a person except through the Holy Spirit.   That
is the way we are led to repentance.   If we do not have the
Holy Spirit, there is no hope for us.
It's like a man out in the sea who is drowning alone, and
somebody throws one life preserver to him.   If the man will lay
hold of that life preserver, he can be saved, but if he refuses
to take hold of the only link to the shore, he will perish
without hope.   In the same way, we are in this world, and the
only way God can reach us is by the Holy Spirit.   If we turn
away from that Spirit and refuse to listen and obey, God will
have to let us go and be lost.   This is why David was so deeply
concerned in his great prayer of contrition.   While pouring out
his heart to God in Psalm 51, David said, "Cast me not away from
thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me."   Verse 11.
He realized that if God removed the Holy Spirit, he was lost.
He would be left alone with no way of being saved.   And that's
why Jesus said that it's the unpardonable sin.   When you cut
yourself off and refuse to listen to the Holy Spirit, there is
no hope for you.


Three Ways to Offend the Spirit

I've marked down three ways that people can commit this sin.
The first way is for a man simply to say, "I don't want to be
saved; I don't want to be bothered with God and the Bible."
Once in a while you'll find a person like this.   I'm glad to
tell you that it's not very often.   Most people really want to
be saved, but now and then you'll find some who just aren't
interested.   They are perfectly satisfied with their
materialistic world of the flesh.   Notice what it says in
Proverbs 28:13:   "He that covereth his sins shall not prosper:
but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy."
Those who don't want to give up their sins will finally convince
themselves that they are happy without Christ.   They will
eventually feel no conviction, and the Holy Spirit will leave
them alone.
The second group which is so vulnerable to this sin reaches the
same state of rejection by a different route.   They really want
to be saved and will tell anyone that it is their primary future
priority to get right with God.   Unfortunately, this class
keeps waiting for that opportune time to step out into the path
of total surrender.   With all good intention, they allow the
golden moments to slip by them until their wills have been
paralyzed by indecision.   Such people still talk about
following Christ all the way, but their ability to act has been
destroyed by procrastination.   At last they linger too long and
pass the point of no return.
Without doubt the largest group of unpardonable sinners is to be
found in the third group I want to talk about.   Strangely
enough, these folks appear to be the most unlikely ever to
commit the unpardonable sin.   They are church members--perhaps
even pillars in the congregation.   Does that shock you?  Why
should these Christians stand in greater danger of this sin than
the other two groups?  Because they do not understand that truth
is progressive.   Millions of Christians have settled back in
their comfortable pews, complacent about being saved.   They
feel absolutely secure in their conformity to a church, not
realizing that baptism is only the beginning of a long, growing
experience.
Said the psalmist:   "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a
light unto my path."   Psalm 119:105.   The farther we walk into
the Bible, the more truth is revealed, and the more accountable
we become before God.   He has never unfolded all the truth to
any one person at any one time.   A lamp only shines far enough
to expose one safe step.   As we move into that step, another
one is revealed.   As we grow in grace and knowledge, God
requires us to move with the advancing light of truth.

Conscience Seared by Disobedience

Now suppose that I see the light from the lamp of God's Word,
but refuse to obey it.   Let's say that the Holy Spirit has
convicted me, and I understand perfectly what He requires of me,
but it is unpopular and inconvenient.   What happens if I
disregard the light and reject the truth which the Spirit has
revealed--for any reason whatsoever?  The Spirit continues to
speak, of course, and for a time there is a battle in my
conscience.   I feel miserable and guilty.   Days pass by, and
even months, while I keep on violating my conviction of what is
right.   Gradually, the conscience begins to adjust to what is
being done in the physical body.   Slowly the guilt feelings
begin to subside and the acts of disobedience appear less and
less objectionable.
Finally, the truth which seemed so clear and uncomplicated in
the beginning turns into a muddle of uncertainty.
Rationalizations spring forth to justify disobedience, and the
early convictions of sin fade away.   Life is almost as
comfortable as it was before the light came.   What has
happened?  We have sinned against the Holy Spirit and are
sinking into the state of the unpardonable sin.
You see, this deadly sin is not any particular act which can be
isolated and labeled.   It can be any sin which is cherished in
the face of light and knowledge.   It actually is a condition of
seared sensitivity brought on by persistent disobedience to
recognized truth.   The reaction is similar to ignoring an alarm
clock.   The conscience becomes more and more tolerant of the
pricking reminder of transgression until, finally, it no longer
even recognizes the unwelcome sting of conviction.   Like the
clock it runs down, too, and just as well, because no one is
listening any longer.
Do you begin to see that every-
thing really depends on what we do
with truth?  James wrote, "Therefore
to him that knoweth to do good, and
doeth it not, to him it is sin."   James 4:17.   It doesn't
matter an iota whether we
are rich or poor, Catholic or Jew or Protestant; the big issue
is whether we are acting upon what we know.
Jesus expanded on this crucial principle.   He said, "If I had
not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin:   but now
they have no cloke for their sin."   John 15:22.   Who, then, is
accountable and chargeable before God?  Those who have been
enlightened by the Holy Spirit out of the Word.   The sincere
souls who are faithful to all they know, be it much or little,
will be accepted.   Sin will only be counted against those who
have heard truth and rejected it.
Christ said, "If ye were blind, ye should have no sin:   but now
ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth."   John 9:41.
This whole problem of the unpardonable sin revolves around the
issue of obeying what we know.   On another occasion Jesus said,
"Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you."
John 12:35.
Where does light come from?  It is the Holy Spirit who guides us
into all truth.   When we refuse to obey the truth, we are
rejecting the ministry of the Spirit who is our only link to
salvation.   We literally drive away the one Person whom God has
sent to save us.   Can you now see how self-destructive that can
be?  God's special messenger is grieved away by our deliberate
refusal to respond to His invitations of mercy.   God said long
ago, "My Spirit will not always strive with man."   He will say
to the Holy Spirit at last, "Let them alone.   If they insist in
having their own way, do not pursue them any longer."

Parent's Religion
May Not Be Good Enough

Probably the most accurate description of the unpardonable sin
in the New Testament is found in Acts 7:51:   "Ye stiffnecked
and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the
Holy Ghost; as your fathers did, so do ye."   How were these
people fighting the Spirit ot God?  Stephen says they were doing
it by hiding behind their fathers' religion.   They simply
followed in the same religious path that their parents had
walked.   Is there anything wrong with that?  In this case there
was, because the text goes on to describe them as those "who
have received the law [of God] by the disposition of angels, and
have not kept it."   Verse 53.
Do you get the picture?  Regardless of what their fathers had
understood, these people received a law which God required them
to obey.   Every generation and every individual will be judged
on the basis of what they know and how they obey it.   Nobody's
religion is good enough for anybody else because there are
varying degrees of accountability for each person.   My
grandfather could be saved by following the light he had, but I
couldn't be saved doing the same thing.   I have a different
measure of revealed truth for which God will hold me personally
responsible.
The truth is that any person rejects and despises the Holy
Spirit when he willfully disobeys any of God's commandments.
According to the Bible, the Spirit cannot abide in the life of
anyone who does not obey.   "And we are his witnesses of these
things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to
them that obey him."   Acts 5:32.   Again, Jesus said:   "If ye
love me, keep my commandments.   And I will pray the Father, and
he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you
for ever."   John 14:15, 16.

Known Sin Drives Away Spirit

Please notice that disobedience immediately disqualifies one to
be Spirit-filled.   This remarkable representative of God is
offended when His primary function is denied.   His very nature
is to make sin appear exceedingly sinful.   Sin cannot
comfortably remain where the Holy Spirit abides.   Either the
sin is renounced or the Spirit finally will be rejected and
depart.
Refusing to walk in the light does not bring an immediate
separation from God, but persistent disobedience continues to
harden the conscience to the seriousness of sin.   That state of
darkness developed by repeated violation of known truth is what
we refer to as the unpardonable sin.
Are church members and religious people really in danger of
committing this sin?  In one of my crusades a dear lady shook my
hand at the door and told me how excited she was about the
Sabbath truth she had learned that night.   When I encouraged
her to make a decision to keep the Sabbath, she earnestly
replied, "I'm going to pray about it, and if God impresses me to
do it, I certainly shall."
That answer may have a good sound to it, because it speaks of
prayer, but it disappointed me greatly.   Even though the truth
was clearly revealed out of the Word, she was going to ask God
for a final evidence before obeying.   What was to be the acid
test?  A feeling.   Is it safe to trust impressions as the
criteria for truth?  Never.   Satan can create feelings as well
as God.   I was not surprised a few days later when she told me
that God had impressed her that she did not have to keep the
Sabbath.
Her mistake has been repeated by millions of good people.   They
do not understand that every impression from whatever source,
must be tested by the infallible Word of God.   "There is a way
that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways
of death."   Proverbs 14:12.   God never contradicts Himself.
To lead anyone contrary to His Word would be a violation of His
nature.   The Holy Spirit always speaks in perfect harmony with
the Bible.   Paul asks his hearers to take "the sword of the
Spirit, which is the word of God."   Ephesians 6:17.   This
reveals that the Bible is the cutting edge of the Holy Spirit.
The two work together in convicting people of sin.
If a person decides that he is not going to obey the truth, will
God recognize that decision and allow him to follow it?  Yes,
God will even permit a person to believe a lie if he chooses to
do so.   Paul spoke of those who "received not the love of the
truth, that they might be saved.   And for this cause God shall
send them strong delusion, that they might believe a lie."   2
Thessalonians 2:10,11.
Those who love a lie more than the truth will gradually be
confirmed in it as the Spirit of God is grieved away.   The
thief who continues to steal after he has been convicted by that
Spirit will finally see nothing wrong with stealing.   The
Sabbath-breaker who willfully continues to violate the Sabbath
will someday begin justifying his sin.   After a while his con-
science becomes seared and insensitive to the influence of the
Holy Spirit.   There comes a day when God speaks for the last
time, and the will, paralyzed by indecision and continued
transgression,  is unable to respond.   Furthermore, the Spirit
does not tell us when He begins to make that final invitation.
We only know that the Holy Spirit will not always strive with
man.   At last God will say, "Let him alone."
Obedience Not Optional

The greatest mistake people can make is to believe that they can
come to God whenever they choose.   The truth is that you can
only obey God when the Spirit is speaking to your heart.   As a
farmer, I knew there was a time to sow wheat and get a harvest
of wheat, and there was another time to sow wheat, and get
nothing.   As an evangelist, I know there is a time you can say
yes to God, and there is another time you cannot say yes.
One of the strongest statements Jesus ever made is found in Luke
13:24:   "Strive to enter in at the strait gate:   for many, I
say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able."
That text confused me for a long time.   How could a loving God
hold anyone out of His kingdom who was seriously seeking to
enter in?  It just didn't make sense.   Then I noticed the
words, "shall not be able."   This placed the problem on the
people instead of God.   God was willing and able to take them
in, but they were not able to accept His salvation.   They had
become so settled and hard in their long-term disobedience that
they were incapable of true repentance.   Like the seekers of
the Old Testament "they shall wander from sea to sea, and from
the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek
the word of the Lord, and shall not find it."   Amos 8:12.
Someday it will be too late to find salvation.   Someday the
door of probation will close, and no one will be able to enter
in.   Now is the accepted time.   Now is the day of salvation.
No wonder Jesus called this the sin that can never be forgiven.
It is the sin of waiting too long to obey, until the soul is set
in its mold of stubborn delay.
I repeat that you can only obey God when the Spirit is
convicting you to come.   When that Spirit is driven away and
rejected, there is no possibility for repentance.
The interesting story is told of a great eagle who spotted the
carcass of a calf being swept along the Niagara River on an ice
floe.   Swooping down on his mighty wings the eagle settled on
the ice and began to feed on the carcass.   Trusting the
strength of those wings, he continued to feast until just before
the deadly plunge over the cataract.   Then he spread those
powerful wings to make his escape, but alas, his talons had
frozen into the ice, and he could not move.   He was swept over
the precipice and crushed on the rocks below.
I've also known people who waited too long to make a decision.
Over and over again men have spoken to me at the door after a
crusade meeting:   "I know what you're preaching is the truth,
and I'm planning to do something about it."   Others tell me
that they really are thinking about the things they have heard.
Is God looking for people who will be great talkers about the
truth?  And what about those who are always thinking about the
truth?  Jesus will never welcome anyone into the Kingdom with
these words:   "Well said, thou good and faithtul servant; enter
thou into the joy of thy Lord."   Neither will the Master ever
say, "Well thought, thou good and faithful servant."   But He
will say to all who enter there, "Well done, thou good and
faithful servant:   ...  enter thou into the joy of thy Lord."
Matthew 25:21.
The most presumptuous thing anyone can do is to pray for an
understanding of the truth, and then refuse to obey when God
answers that prayer.   It is better not to know the truth than
to reject it after knowing.   "Be ye doers of the word, and not
hearers only."   James 1:22.

Hearing and Not Doing

The real test of love is what we do with the truth we
understand.   It is really not very hard to convince people of
what is right, but it is very difficult to convince them to
obey.   Doesn't that tell us something important?  Satan knows
that faith without works is dead, and he also knows that
continued transgression grieves away the Holy Spirit.   His most
concentrated attack is upon the will, and obviously, he is
having great success in causing people to postpone obedience.
The longer they wait, the greater their chance of waiting
longer, and the greater their danger of driving away the Holy
Spirit.
Jesus faced the same problem in His own ministry.   He had to
taste the bitter heartache of seeing people turn away from
truth.   The crowd stayed until He got into some hard thing that
required sacrifice and action.   Then they all left.   That is
the most shattering experience for any preacher or teacher.   I
know because I've seen a few walk out, too.   I'm not comparing
myself with Jesus, but every soulwinner can empathize with
Christ when He asked His disciples,  "Will ye also go away?"
Then Peter answered, "Where would we go?"   What a question!
Where do you go after hearing the full, unadulterated truth?
Surely there is no need to look further for it, and additional
light will only come after you obey what you have.
There is only one safe thing to do with truth--obey it! You
cannot get over it, around it, or through it.   It won't go
away, and it will not change.   We don't break God's law; it
breaks us if we disobey it.
How can a person know if he has committed the unpardonable sin?
The answer to that question is simple and easy.   No one has
grieved away the Holy Spirit who still has a conviction of sin
and a drawing to God.   Those who search and seek after truth
have not yet passed the point of no return.   But since the
Spirit does not announce when the last, pleading call is made to
the heart, no one should be presumptuous enough to disobey
willfully a single known truth.   The most deadly danger facing
anyone today is to insult the Spirit of God by refusing
obedience to His conviction.   The results are the same
regardless of the words we might use to justify it.   The end is
always separation from God.
The most deceptive aspect of the unpardonable sin is the seeming
comfort with which people are able to live without God.   Their
lives are finally free from the conflicting turmoil of
struggling with conscience.   It did not happen overnight, but
the nagging convictions grow fainter and fainter, blending at
last into a very comfortable, satisfied lifestyle.
No Christian should marvel at this amazing peace of mind which
the unconverted seem to display.   That deadly malaise is only
apparent in those who no longer have two voices and two natures
contending for the mastery.   With the Holy Spirit gone, the
flesh enjoys uncontested control over the heart and life.   No
more spiritual battles rage, and the unpardonable sin appears to
have brought a measure of relief.   But that mirage covers an
empty soul, bereft of any capacity to pray or to trust.
Often, in my public crusade meetings, people express concern
that they might have driven away the Holy Spirit.   Even while
they listen to the messages night by night, they are filled with
fear that they have committed the unpardonable sin.   To such I
can give a clear and positive assurance that they are not guilty
of this sin.   If so, they would never be concerned about the
things of God.   Certainly they would not be found in the place
of prayer and Bible study, expressing concern over their
relationship to God.   Obviously, the Holy Spirit is still
drawing them and creating a desire for truth and salvation.
On the other hand, no one should feel secure from this sin who
is walking contrary to the light God has revealed.   Every
person who is deliberately sinning will continue moving
inexorably toward that fatal moment when the conscience is no
longer able to respond to the Spirit's call.   Our only safety,
each moment, is to know that we are claiming the grace of God to
obey every ray of light and truth which falls upon our pathway.

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