Shane, I want to thank you again for that touching tribute, and I want to once again say how thankful I am for those of you that have loved ones that have paid the ultimate price. Some of you still have loved ones serving, and some of you are serving yourselves, so thank you. You're in our thoughts and our prayers continually, and words cannot express what your family's sacrifice means to us, so again, thank you for what this weekend means to all of us and to you as well. If you have your Bibles this morning, I would like you to turn with me to the Gospel of Mark, Chapter 3. For those of you that are new with us this morning, we have begun about six weeks ago a new series through the Gospel of Mark, and we've covered some ground already. Today we're going to get into Chapter 3. This, I'll be honest with you, is a very difficult text. It's one that I have never preached on before, but one that is very serious and very solemn. And so I would pray this morning that you would tune your hearts and your minds towards the Word of God and allow the Holy Spirit to speak to you in a way that only He can, because this message is one that could forever change your life if you have never received Christ as your Lord and Savior this morning. And as you're finding your place there, just to kind of give you a recap, we reached a place in chapter 2 where we saw Jesus' ministry really becoming controversial. It seemed like every time he went out and performed a miracle or preached the gospel, there were the scribes and the Pharisees and the religious rulers of the times just waiting for an opportunity to try to find fault with everything that he did. You remember he came and was preaching in the house of Simon Peter, and they lowered down this paralytic man, paralyzed man at his feet through the roof, and Jesus made a claim During that time, he says, take up your bed and walk, your sins are forgiven. And they just blow up and say, you know, who is this only God can forgive sins? And that was the very point, that Jesus was equating himself as God, and they just couldn't wrap their minds around the claim that he was making that was blasphemous to them for him to say something like that and so he moves on to the next section and we see him call Levi who later we know as Matthew the tax collector and then Levi invites him back to his house and there's all these sinners and tax collectors and Jesus is eating dinner with him and they say who is this man that he eats with tax collectors and sinners, and we said that the only way you can make such an arrogant statement as that is if you believe you're not one. If you believe that you're not a sinner, you'll look down on other sinners. And that just showed their self-righteousness in the way that they talked. Then we see Him walking through the fields and the disciples picking grain and eating it, and He comes along on the Sabbath and they have all kinds of questions about these things, and just continually bringing things up in front of Jesus. And today we get into chapter 3, and I'm going to move quickly through the beginning section to get to the text today, but you would notice in verses 1 through 6 that Jesus again comes along and He heals a man. And it's on the Sabbath, and guess what? Once again, the religious people come up. They're not concerned about this man. They're not rejoicing in the fact that this person's just been healed. They're just worried about the Sabbath, and they're continually looking to find fought with Jesus because He continually exposed their legalism and their traditions and their self-righteousness. And that's ultimately what every religion will lead you to. It's an attempt for man to somehow justify himself before God. And when we set up this list of rules to try to keep, It somehow gives us room to boast, and we can also judge others by that, by saying, well, you know, look at what I've done today. You haven't done so good in keeping the list the way that I have. And so we see this self-righteousness time and time again with the Pharisees, and time and time again Jesus exposes them for what it is, to the point where Chapter 3, verse 6, it really comes to a head. You really see that this controversy that Jesus is causing reaches a boiling point. Look at what it says in verse 6. The Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against Him, how to destroy Him. Now that's significant because the Herodians were a political party and the Pharisees were a religious party and they didn't see eye to eye because the Herodians were basically supporters of King Herod who was a supporter of the Roman the Roman captivity and what was going on in Jerusalem at that time. And so for these two parties to come together in any kind of common cause was amazing in and of itself. But that's the hatred that the world had toward Jesus at that time. And I would just make a point in passing that we see that same thing happen today when it comes to the Christian faith. Isn't it amazing how false religion And the world's political system will join hand in hand for the common cause to stomp out the truth and the message of Jesus Christ. It's nothing new what we're experiencing today. It's just repackaged. But it's no different than what we see in Jesus' time because the devil knows his time is short. And his mission is to try to stomp out and destroy as many people as he can. And he knows and we know that the gospel is the power of God unto salvation to all who believe. And so his goal is to stop that message from going forth. And he does it by polluting the truth with false religion. And he does it with the political systems trying to silence the message. And they'll come hand in hand to do both. And we see that. So the Herodians, the Pharisees come together. And from this time forward, they're going to be very intentional to try to put a stop to Jesus. And then we look at verses 7 through 12, and it's amazing to see that all the while these religious rulers and these political people are trying to end the message of the gospel and end Christ's life, that's their plan. A great crowd is still flocking to him. Isn't it amazing to see that while they seek to kill him, a broken world is still running to him for help? And that too is true today. It's easy to get discouraged when we look around and see the laws that are being passed and the effort that's being made to silence Christianity and the struggling of many churches. And yet there are broken and lost people today that are desperate to hear the good news of Jesus Christ. And we can sit on our hands and we can wring our hands and worry about what might be, or we can take heart that God is still saving sinners. that the message of the gospel is still as relevant today as it's ever been, and we can go out and reach the lost with the good news. We can comfort the hurting with the hope that we have. We can offer peace to those who have no peace today. And so we see that happening. This crowd is pressing on him to get to him so much that he has to retreat out on a boat so that he can preach to him. The good news is that, yes, the world will not receive our message all the time, But as the Holy Spirit works, He will open hearts and lives for people that will. And those are the ones we need to look for. They're still desperate for the gospel. And then verses 13 through 21, He comes, and this is the section where He gets alone and prays, and He calls these disciples, and they receive that call and they follow. And we see the names gathered together there. And then He goes home to eat. Even His own family at that point says, this guy's out of his mind. I mean, the people wouldn't leave him alone, he couldn't even eat. I mean, so many people seeking for him, that in verse 21 it says, And listen, I'm going to be honest with you, the more that you get on fire for God, and the more that you really want to serve Him, that's going to make you a lot different from the world. If you want to be loved by the world, you might as well forget trying to go all in for God. Because you can't walk hand in hand with both. But when you make that commitment to serve God, you're going to be different. You're going to be different. You already should be different. But as you serve Him more and more, the world's going to look at you as an oddball. And we've got to be alright with that. Because they even looked at Jesus and said He's out of His mind. His own family thought He was crazy. He went too far. He was a fanatic. But I'm afraid that that term gets thrown around so much today just by people that are really just serving God as they ought to. We're not fanatical. It's just that it's so odd nowadays to see somebody that really serves Christ as they ought to and lives a life as the Bible says they should, that when somebody actually does it, everybody looks at them and says, man, that guy's whacked out. No. He's just biblical. But we don't see that. We don't live it, and so it seems strange. But it's not strange. It's not strange at all to serve and love Christ with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength. But the text I really want to look at today is chapter 3, verse 22 through 30. There's a lot of names given to this section of Scripture. The unforgivable sin. The unpardonable sin. And I've talked to people throughout the years that struggle with this text. I've talked to Christians that have no peace and no assurance because they feel like maybe they've committed this sin. But on the other hand, I've also talked to people that maybe should be worried about this that aren't, that don't show much concern about it. So let me read to you verses 22 through 30. of Mark chapter 3. It says, And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, He is possessed by Beelzebub, and by the prince of demons he cast out demons. And he called them to him and said to them in parables, How can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, the house will not be able to stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand. but is coming to an end. But no one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods unless he first binds the strong man. Then indeed he may plunder his house. Truly I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin. For they were saying he has an unclean spirit. Now hold your spot there for just a minute, and either flip over or Dallas will try to get this up on the screen. I want you to read this parallel account, or I want to read it to you, from Matthew chapter 12, verse 22 to 32. Matthew 12. This is the same story, but you're going to see a few more details, and that's why I want to give this to you. Matthew 12, verse 22 says, Then a demon-oppressed, or a demon-possessed man, who was blind and mute, was brought to him, and he had healed him so that the man spoke and saw. And all the people were amazed and said, Can this be the son of David? But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this man cast out demons. And knowing their thoughts, he said to them, Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand. And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. Or how can someone enter a strongman's house and plunder his goods unless he first binds the strongman? Then indeed he may plunder his house. Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people. but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven, and whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come." Now let me just kind of explain what's happening here. We get to a place where there's a large crowd gathered around, and Jesus comes and performs a miracle in front of everybody, And at this point, there's no more denying the fact that something is going on here. I mean, they can't just dismiss this anymore. Jesus has done too much. He's built a following. He's performed miracles to the point where He cannot be excused anymore. Logically, you can't just brush this off. And that was one of the things that I told you from day one when we started this series in Mark, is you're going to come to a place in your life, maybe you're here this morning and you're an atheist, an agnostic, a skeptic, maybe you're just not sure about Christianity altogether, or maybe you're a believer but you struggle with your faith, or maybe you're somewhere in between those two worlds, those two realms. In Mark 8.27, I've told you this almost every week, and this verse is right smack dab in the middle of the Gospel of Mark. And they ask a question. Jesus asks a question. And I want you to continue to ask yourself this every day, and especially as we listen to God's Word being spoke. Mark 8.27, Jesus asked His disciples, who do people say that I am? And you have got to answer that question. At some point, you can't just keep playing church, you can't just keep going through the motions, you can't just assume that life has no purpose or no meaning. If you really stop and look at the evidence, if you really stop and look at the claims of Christ, you can't just be shallow and superficial with what He says and what He's done. Let me just give you a few things to chew on this morning, if you've never answered that question. Who is Jesus Christ? Who is He really? Historically, even secularists and humanists will not deny the fact that Jesus Christ historically existed. There's no doubt. without a shadow of a doubt that someone named Jesus Christ lived in first century Palestine. Now that doesn't mean that he was the son of God. I can't tell you that just by historically proving that I have evidence that he was the son of God. But you can't dismiss the fact that someone named Jesus Christ actually lived and walked on this earth. And so with that claim being made, you need to dig a little bit deeper to find out who He was. Was He just a great teacher? Was He a madman? Was He the Son of God? You've got to dig a little bit deeper. You have to dig into the Word of God and look at all the prophecies in the Old Testament, hundreds of them, predicted centuries before Christ would come, and all perfectly fulfilled in one person. In one person, and I've shared this before, the study was done if you took the odds of that and put them down. If you took half dollars, half dollar coins, and spread them a foot deep over the entire state of Texas and marked one coin and blindfolded a man and set him out and he reached down into a stack and randomly pulled out a coin, that is the same odds roughly as what it would take for one man to fulfill every prophecy that Jesus Christ did. You've got to grapple with that. How do you answer that? Again, I'm not saying that that's a surefire proof, but you can't dismiss that. You can't dismiss the fact that Jesus Christ was predicted and prophesied and fulfilled all those things to a T. The evidence of His resurrection is staggering. You can't dismiss that either. How did the disciples who were cowering in fear go to people that were bold enough to die for their faith? And how did that stone get rolled away from the tomb? And where was the body? And if it was an elaborate plot, why didn't they just produce the body to end this uprising to begin with? And on and on and on. The resurrection is not easily dismissed. And it proves the fact that Jesus is who he says he was. And how do you explain the transformation of millions of people throughout the years that have believed in the gospel and seen their lives changed by the new birth that takes place by faith in Christ? Those are questions many more could be asked. But I would encourage you this morning to stop and take a look at Jesus. You cannot remain neutral. If you stay neutral, you've cast your vote to say He's not who He claims to be. Because you cannot look at the gospel witness, the message of Christ, the forgiveness He offers, the love He offers, the works that He's done, and stay neutral. It's got to drive you to a decision. Either you'll reject Him or you'll fall down and worship Him, but you cannot stay in the same place that you were. In Matthew's account that we read, the people came and said, isn't this The Son of David? That was a messianic claim. In the Old Testament, the Messiah would come through and sit on the throne of David. He would establish an eternal throne to rule and reign in David's earthly throne. And that was the claim that these people were making. They were saying, wait a minute, do you see what he's doing? Maybe this is the Messiah. There was an oral tradition amongst the Jewish people that said when the Messiah came, He alone could perform certain miracles. They would account for certain things to happen, but there were some things that they said only the Messiah could do. And when He came, He would perform these miracles. Again, this isn't biblical. This is just a tradition that the Jews passed down. Number one, they said that the Messiah would alone be able to perform the miracle of cleansing a leper. We saw that back in Mark chapter 1. Jesus had healed a leper. Number two, the Messiah would be able to cast out demons and heal a deaf and dumb man. Again, we see that happening. And finally, He would be able to give sight to the blind. And we see that happening with Jesus. And so the Pharisees knew this tradition, the Jews knew these traditions, they knew the Old Testament Scriptures, and many of them were being persuaded that This very well may be Christ. This may be the Messiah. And the Pharisees see that, and they begin to get worried. Because if He is in fact the Messiah, and what He's teaching, and how He is interacting with sinners, their entire religious system would be destroyed. Everything that they had built their hope upon was crumbling. And so they had to do something about it. They had to do something about it quickly. And so they come and say, this is simple. He's doing this by the power of Satan. Beelzebul was a reference to the Canaanite god Baal, lord of the flies, was basically what it meant. But later it became to be known as Satan himself. And so they're saying he's doing all these miracles by the power of Satan. And so Jesus says, you know, come here boys, let's chat for a minute. We're going to just logically look at what your statement says. So he goes through in chapter 3 of Luke, and he just makes some very obvious claims. In verse 24 he says, If a kingdom is divided against itself, it cannot stand. And we see that nation after nation that becomes divided. This country is very divided right now by politics, by race, by religion, you name it. And eventually a system that remains divided will cave in on itself. It can only go on so long with a divided nature amongst it. And then Jesus says in verse 25, a house divided against itself cannot stand. And we see the devil constantly attacking the family unit because it's so critical to who we are and to a people. And so the devil loves to see families divided. He loves to divide the definition of what marriage really is. We see that attack constantly. And there is a reason for that. He knows that a divided nation, a divided home will cave in on itself. And then he says in verse 26, even if Satan is divided amongst himself, his kingdom will fall apart. And one thing that Satan is very good about is staying on mission. I would say that Satan does a better job of staying focused on his goals sometimes than the church does. We can become very divided over what it is we want to accomplish or maybe how we're going to accomplish that. The devil stays very focused on his mission. And then Jesus gives a story in verse 27. He says, No one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods unless he first binds the strong man. Then indeed he may plunder his house. The strong man was the devil. The strong man was the devil and he had a grip on his possessions. He has a grip on anyone today that is without Christ. He is the prince of this world and he rules and governs, so much as God allows him to, the things that take place in this world and outside of Christ. Jesus told the Pharisees that you are of your father, the devil. They were serving the devil, although they thought they served God. And anyone outside of Christ is serving Satan. Now, that doesn't mean that you necessarily go out and would say that or admit that or do deeds that you feel like show that. But in your heart, your rejection of Christ automatically puts you on a path towards destruction and toward judgment. And that's what he's saying. But, he says, when someone else stronger comes in and binds him, then His house may be plundered. And the good news is while we are unable to overcome our sin, to overpower the devil in our own strength, Christ has done that for us. Christ has come along, He's offered Himself on the cross to pay for our sins, and then He frees us from the power that Satan has over us. The sin that once held us is now broken. That doesn't mean we don't still sin, but it means the Holy Spirit within us now gives us the ability to escape. We can be tempted, but we don't have to dive into those temptations because of who we are. Colossians 2.15 tells us, He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame by triumphing over them in Him. You see, when Christ went to the cross and on the third day rose victoriously, He put an end to the rule and reign of evil and sin and the devil in the lives of His people. He no longer can claim ownership on anyone if they're covered by the blood of Christ. And that's the claim that Jesus makes there. But listen, the problem is He's still a very real foe, and we oftentimes don't understand just how serious it is for us to wage war against sin and against our flesh. And we walk too close to the edge, and that's why so many Christians fall in. Paul says, Ephesians chapter 4, verse 27, to give no opportunity to the devil. We give him so many opportunities in our lives. And oftentimes the reason why we fall so easily is because we leave ourselves wide open for attacks. We don't pray. We don't get in the Word of God. We don't resist the devil. We don't gather together for worship. We don't surround ourselves with other believers. And the lesson this morning, we're not humble enough to receive correction and to receive godly counsel. Whenever you try to go to somebody and help them, a lot of times everybody today says, well, who are you to judge, right? That's what we hear all the time. The reason we come to people, hopefully the reason you come to somebody that you see caught in sin or getting off the path is not so that you can point out how good you are and how messed up they are, But it's to say, listen, I've seen something in your life that could be dangerous to you, that could harm your walk with Christ, and I've stumbled myself, and so I understand the danger, and I just would like to pray with you and encourage you to just examine your life, and if there's something wrong there, to maybe turn back and repent of these things. That's a humble attitude, and we should be thankful for that. That's the way that we should receive that correction in love. But we don't do that, and we leave ourselves open. But here's really what I want to look at today. This is a very solemn scripture and something that I hope you will really, really take to heart. He says in verse 28, truly I say to you, all sins will be forgiven to children of man in whatever blasphemies they utter, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness but is guilty of an eternal sin. There's an aeronautical term, it's the title of my message today, the point of no return. And basically that term originally came to me when a plane was flying and it got so far that the fuel that it was carrying got to a level to where it couldn't turn around and go back. It had to continue on its mission, continue on to where it was going, because there was no hope of coming back. You wouldn't make it. You didn't have the fuel to get back. And Jesus is saying in this text, that there comes a place spiritually where you can reach a point of no return. You can get to a place in your life where your heart is so hard and you've rejected Christ so many times that it's impossible for you to be saved. You say, is that really biblical? Let me show you. Let me show you these things. Before I do that, let me point out to you, because like I said, a lot of people have been troubled by this. I've had people come and say, man, I'm just burdened. I think I may have committed this sin. And I would say to you, if you're worried about that, if you're convicted by it, you haven't committed it. Because the person that commits this sin has hardened their heart so much that they're to a place in life where they're no longer convicted by anything. that they have hardened themselves to a place where they're just blinded by their sin. They're just blinded in the natural man to the point where they won't receive correction. And so if you're troubled by this this morning, I would most definitely assure you that you have not committed that sin. It's not the committing of any particularly diabolical or heinous sin. The impartable sin is not you going out and doing something absolutely horrible in your minds. If we look through the Bible, we see murderers, we see adulterers, there's homosexuals in the Bible. Peter even denied Christ, and all these people were forgiven. Look again at verse 28. It's very important that you see what he says to begin with. All sins will be forgiven the children of man. You see that? All sins. So whatever junk you've come in here with this morning, there's nothing in your life that's so bad that God looks at you and says, you've committed the unpardonable sin. That's above and beyond my pay grade. In 1 John 1, verse 7, it says, But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and listen to this, the blood of Jesus, His Son, cleanses us from all sin. There's not a sin in your life this morning that cannot and will not be covered by the blood of Christ if you'll repent and come to Him. No matter what you've done, no matter how awful it may be, No matter how guilty and shamed you feel by it, if you'll confess it and turn from it, He will forgive you. He will forgive you and make you new. So the unpardonable sin this morning is not a particularly evil sin that you've done. Again, in rejecting Christ, is not the unpardonable sin. We see the apostle Peter denied Him three times and was restored. And those of you that are believers, myself included, how many of you heard the gospel once, twice, many times, and didn't get saved? Not many people get saved the first time you hear the gospel. We read tracts, we hear Billy Graham on television, we come to church and hear it, and we sit unmoved by it. And so simply turning away Christ is not necessarily the unpardonable sin. Because many of us have done that and continue to do that. But what is it? What is it? Verse 29, he says, "...whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness." but he is guilty of an eternal sin. You see that? Don't miss that word eternal. It's never, ever, ever going to be able to be forgiven. There's no purgatory, there's no praying your way out, there's no paying alms or giving penance towards that. You are eternally condemned if you've committed this sin. Here's what I want you to understand. Jesus Christ was fully God. Completely and totally God. In the beginning, the Bible says, was the Word, that's Jesus Christ, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He has eternally existed and has always been the second member of the Trinity. He is God. But at an appointed time in history, He stepped out of eternity and came to earth to take on flesh and to take on another nature along with His deity. He didn't cease to be divine, but He added humanity when He was incarnated in the flesh. The Word became flesh. That word in the Greek is incarnated. He became flesh and dwelt among us. And so you see the hypostatic union, the joining of two natures, God and man, in the person of Jesus Christ. Why is that important? Because everything that Jesus did in His earthly life, He did it by the power and the working of the Holy Spirit in Him. He never used His deity to carry out any duty while He lived on earth. You think about the temptation in the wilderness. Satan tried to coerce Him, tried to persuade Him. Turn these stones into bread. Use your deity. Show who you are. And time and time again, Jesus said I could call down 10,000 angels in the garden if He wanted to. He never used His deity. Because at His baptism, you see the Holy Spirit coming down upon Him. He was filled with the Spirit. And He lived and carried out His ministry by the power of the Holy Spirit. It was amazing how God always ties things together. Our Sunday school lesson this morning, Philippians chapter 2. Verses 5 through 8. This was what Paul says there. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God as a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, or he became of no reputation. By taking the form of a servant, and being born in the likeness of men, and being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death even Death on a cross. That emptying is called the kenosis. It's not that Jesus set aside his deity, it's that he just took on human flesh and then he lived and ministered by the power of the Holy Spirit. Why is that so important? Because by rejecting Christ, and His message, they were in essence blaspheming Him against the Holy Spirit who was the one that was convicting them, who was drawing them, who was the one that saves, who was the one that sanctifies. Everything that we are and become as Christians is through the work of the Holy Spirit. The third member of the Trinity, listen, don't ever call the Holy Spirit it or a thing. He's a person. He is a person. He is not an it. He is not a feeling. He is not an emotion. He is not a force or a light. He is a person. He is the Spirit of God. He is just as much God as the Father and the Son. And it is His work that saves us and regenerates us and sets us apart. And so this continual rejection of Christ is a blasphemy against the ministry of the Holy Spirit. And that was the sin that he was warning them of committing. They were attributing the work of God to the devil and in doing so they were rejecting the authority and message of Christ. And the danger for us and how this applies today is when you continually turn away from the gospel invitation to be saved, when that invitation comes, when the Holy Spirit draws you, when He convicts you, when He woos you to come, and you say no, you are hardening your heart toward the day of judgment. You're turning Him away, and there comes a point of no return. You will harden your heart and harden your heart and harden your heart to a place where you'll become beyond feeling. Is that biblical? Yes, it is. Genesis 6-3 says, Then the Lord said, My spirit shall not abide or shall not strive with man forever. For he is flesh, and his days shall be a hundred and twenty years." God was long-suffering and patient. Every day the people would walk out and see this crazy man Noah and his son building an ark, and he preached to them that the judgment was coming and the flood was coming, and the only refuge was in that ark if they wanted to escape, and they laughed and they mocked. for 120 years and the floods came and all of them perished. And we preach the gospel to sinners today that their only hope, their only refuge is in the ark of safety, Jesus Christ. And outside of Him, you will perish eternally in the devil's hell. And they reject that message and reject that message until judgment comes and it's too late. And that is the seriousness of hardening your heart towards the Gospel. Hebrews chapter 6 is a passage of Scripture that has brought many people a lot of concern because it's been mistranslated and misused. Hebrews chapter 6 is not about someone losing their salvation as many people believe. Hebrews chapter 6 is speaking of this very sin. Let me show you. Hebrews 6 verses 4 through 6 says this, For it is impossible It is impossible. In the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted They didn't eat, but they tasted. They've tasted the heavenly gift and have shared in the Holy Spirit. They felt His work. They saw His actions. These people saw the Holy Spirit working in the life of Christ, working around Him. They've experienced it. You've sat in church. You've seen your co-workers saved. You've seen what God can do. And it hasn't moved your heart. He says they've shared in the Holy Spirit. They've tasted the goodness of the Word of God and the powers of the age to come. and then have fallen away. They had all that right in front of them. They've experienced it, they've seen it, but they never received it as their own. And eventually they fell away from the grace and the goodness of God by that rejection. It's impossible to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding Him up to contempt. He's saying these people sat in services, they saw it, they heard it, and they turned away, and they turned away, and it's gotten to a place where it's impossible for them. There's nothing else that can be said. If you reject Christ, if you reject His message, if you reject His sacrifice, there's nothing else that God can offer you. There's no other way. There's life and no other than Jesus Christ. And if you continue to turn that away, there's nothing else for you to turn to. There's nowhere else to go but a certain judgment. Stephen in his sermon, to the people in Acts 7.51, He said, You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. That was the hardness of Israel. Jesus came unto His own, and His own received Him not. Just as the people of Israel had for decades and centuries. The Holy Spirit had worked in them, had given them the law, had given them the Word of God. And yet they continually turned away and turned away and turned away until they hardened their heart. And many of them perished in the wilderness. They perished in Babylonian captivity. They perished in Assyrian captivity. And on and on again. And if you continue to reject the message, there's coming a day where you'll reach a point of no return. And I warn you today, if there's any conviction left in your life, if the Holy Spirit speaks to you in any way, that today is the day of salvation. And I would simply ask you, who is Jesus Christ to you? And if you believe He's the Son of God and you see your need for Him, then why would you not receive that gift today? For if you turn Him away, it may be your last chance. It may be the last time you ever get to accept Christ. And so the message this morning is this, if you're lost, If you sinned against God and you realize it, and you see the love and forgiveness that He offers, why not come and receive it? As Jeff is going to come and give a chance for you to respond publicly, we just simply ask you to come. And ask Christ to save you. And ask Christ to forgive you. And He's promised that whosoever will call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. But it takes faith. It takes you trusting in Him. It takes you laying down your pride and your self-righteousness. And just simply admitting that you're lost and that you're a sinner. And coming and receiving that. Because I would be worried today if you've sat in church for many years and turned it away and turned it away, that at some point your heart is going to be hardened so much that it'll be too late for you. But if you hear His voice today, harden not your hearts. As we stand and as we sing, will you come? See your Lord and Savior today. If not, He can be. Does He rule your heart today? There's not room on the throne for anybody else but Christ alone. Jesus, Jesus, Lord to me. Pastor, Savior, Ruler of my heart today. Jesus Lord to me. Just as I am. So let's do just as I am. Just as I am without one plea But that Thy blood was shed for me And that Thou bidst me come to Thee I am of God, I come. I come. God bless you all. I want to again thank you for all that you're doing. Continue to pray for the church. Pray for Sister Charlotte. I know that Don and Larry have heavy hearts this morning. Charlotte's up at Fort Hamilton. Got some issues with her blood going on. So keep her in prayers and many others still in need of prayer. So you always do a wonderful job of lifting each other up and I ask you continue to do that. Have a safe weekend and there is no service tonight. Just so you know, spend time with your families and enjoy the weekend and Keep praying for VBS. Invite people. We count on you all. You're the hands and feet that get out there and get that message out. So if you know little ones, kindergarten through sixth grade, invite them out for Vacation Bible School. God does some great things here, and I would love to see them be a part of that. So go online and register. We'd love to have you. Thank you again. I'm going to ask Brother Marcus, do you mind to close us out this morning?