As a tribute to all our members in law enforcement and to those who have been pulled by these law enforcement officers, I want to share with you some comments taken from actual police car videos around the country.

• "So you don't know how fast you were going. I guess that means I can write anything I want on the ticket, huh?"
• "If you run, you'll only go to jail tired."
• "I'm glad to hear the Chief of Police is a good personal friend of yours. At least you know someone who can post your bail."
• "Warning! You want a warning? Okay, I'm warning you not to do that again or I'll give you another ticket."
• "The answer to this last question will determine whether you are drunk or not. Was Mickey Mouse a cat or a dog?"
• "Can you run faster than 1200 feet per second? In case you didn't know, that is the average speed of a 9mm bullet fired from my gun."
• "Fair? You want me to be fair? Listen, fair is a place where you go to ride on rides, eat cotton candy, and step in monkey doo."
• "You didn't think we give pretty women tickets? You're right, we don't. Sign here."

It sure is nice to come across those officers who practice grace when they pull you. It's like they're saying to you, "I forgive you." And it sure is nice to have a God in heaven who forgives us. Amen? However, did you know there is one sin that God cannot forgive? You may be thinking, "That can't be right. I thought God was willing to forgive all sins." He is—all except for one. You've probably heard it called the unpardonable sin.

The unpardonable sin is what I want us to look at today as we continue our summer series of messages called "Did Jesus Really Say That?" We're taking some quotations from Jesus, things He said, that raise eyebrows. Some things He said were shocking and some were controversial.

This issue of the unpardonable sin has raised a lot of questions and created much confusion among Christians. What is this unpardonable sin? I've heard some people say that divorce is the unpardonable sin. God hates divorce but it is not unpardonable. I've heard others say that suicide is the unpardonable sin, that taking your own life is an automatic ticket to hell. They are wrong also. Suicide is a poor choice, but there are people who committed suicide who are in heaven and hell. So it is not unpardonable.

I've known of people who believed that they committed the unpardonable sin. My mother-in-law was one of them. Before she died several years ago, I remember pleading with her to give her life to Christ. She told me she didn't think God could forgive her. There was something in her past that I could never pull from her that created a barrier between her and God, something that she believed voided her ability to have a vital walk with God.

This thought may have passed through your mind before. You've done stuff in your past that you really wondered if God could ever forgive you. What exactly is this unpardonable sin? Let's dig into the Bible and see what Jesus said about it and then explain what He meant when He said it. [Read 3:20-30.]

To understand what Jesus meant, it is imperative that you study the circumstances in which He spoke the words. The story begins with Jesus being so busy in ministry that word got back to His family that He wasn't taking care of Himself physically. He was so busy that He and His disciples didn't even have time to eat. Some were even wondering if all the stress of ministry was affecting Him mentally. Out of concern also because they did not fully understand Jesus' ministry, His family traveled to Capernaum to take Him back home to Nazareth. Verse 21 says they went to "take charge" of Him. This is a strong word and could actually be translated "arrest." Jesus' family members were serious about their efforts to take Him home.

Then the Pharisees step into the story. They arrived from Jerusalem to continue their antics against Jesus. In this case, they plant the seed in people's minds that Jesus and Satan are in cahoots with one another. They claim that He is possessed by Beelzebub, the prince of demons.

Jesus countered by stating how absurd it was to think that He was teaming up with Satan. Here was His logic. He had just cast out demons, Satan's helpers. If He did this by Satan's power, then Satan would be working against himself. And that would be crazy. So Jesus couldn't have been teaming up with the devil. Actually, He was destroying the work of Satan, signifying that He was more powerful than the devil.

In verse 28, He summarizes this section with a blast of words that certainly must not have set too well with the Pharisees. He first states that God forgives all the sins people commit. But then in verse 29, He identifies the unpardonable sin: "Whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of the eternal sin." Whoa! Did Jesus really say that?

So blaspheming the Holy Spirit is the one sin that God can't forgive. Let me try to unpack this for us. Allow me to make a few explanations and then come back and go deeper. First, blaspheming the Holy Spirit is not something you say. Some people fear that because they mocked God or even cursed Him, that they have blasphemed the Holy Spirit. And then others try to make a case that it's okay to speak blasphemy against God the Father or God the Son, but speaking blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is unpardonable. Again, I stress to you that the unpardonable sin is not a matter of spoken words.

If blasphemy is not spoken words, then what is it? Second, blasphemy points to a hardened heart. It is not any isolated act that one could say after words, "Oh no! I have committed the unpardonable sin." It is not one act, but instead it is a settled condition of the soul.

Third, the unpardonable sin is committed when a person refuses to allow God to forgive Him. If a person can't be forgiven, it's not so much that God refuses to forgive him. It's more the person who chooses to go through life without ever allowing God to forgive him. So there is such a thing as an unpardonable sin. But if you're troubled about whether or not you have committed it, most likely you're not guilty. Those who commit this sin are so dominated by evil, that it is highly unlikely they are even aware of it.

Let me take a minute to teach you some first year seminary stuff. Hermeneutics is the science and art of biblical interpretation. Here are two of the most important principles for interpreting the Bible with accuracy. First, the Bible does not contradict itself. Every word in the Bible is God-breathed and is therefore without error. Every apparent contradiction, through proper study, can be explained. In those cases where no explanation of a supposed contradiction is apparent, I simply admit that we don't yet have a full understanding of that particular truth.

Second, every verse of Scripture must be interpreted in light of the teachings of the entire Bible. In other words, it is unwise to build a doctrinal truth around a single verse.

Let's go back to the unpardonable sin. Jesus said there is one sin that cannot be forgiven. But other places in the Bible teach that God is willing to forgive all sins. Well, the Bible can't contradict itself; so I must dig in and determine what Jesus meant about blasphemy being the unpardonable sin.

Remember whom He is addressing in this story—the Pharisees. Interpret this verse in light of all that the Bible teaches us about the Pharisees. What was it about them that led Jesus to suggest that they might be guilty of the unpardonable sin? They were the religious leaders, but they were so legalistic about the letter of the law, that they had no love.

Follow their progression in the gospel story. They first denied that Jesus had the authority to forgive sins. Then they rejected the good news of hope and joy in Jesus' messages. In this passage they accuse Jesus of working with Satan. They took what was obviously a good thing, a work of God (driving out demons), and made it appear evil and satanic. Then they worked behind the scenes and conspired to destroy Him. And then they took the necessary action to get the Romans to hang Him on a cross.

The unpardonable sin was not one act that the Pharisees did. It was a settled condition of their souls. Their hearts were hardened. God would have gladly forgiven them. But they refused His forgiveness. As a result they were guilty of an eternal sin.

Let me close with a word of encouragement and a word of warning. Here is my word of encouragement: God wants to forgive you no matter what. It doesn't matter what you've done in the past or how big of a mess you've made, God still is madly in love with you. He wants so much for you to come to Him with a broken and contrite heart and say, "God, I've messed up. Please forgive me."

I want all of you to find your pulse. Put a couple of fingers on your neck or on your wrist. Do you feel it? If you feel it, I've got some great news for you. You have not committed the unpardonable sin. As long as you're breathing, God's forgiveness is available to you. You are the very reason He allowed His one and only Son to die on the cross. He wants to forgive you no matter what. Do you deserve His forgiveness? Of course not. Neither do I. It's all grace.

Some of you have been living for some time under a ton of guilt. In your heart you believe you're outside the reach of God's forgiveness. Maybe you've been a failure at home. Maybe you bailed on your family and broke things off. Maybe you neglected your children through the years and now the negative consequences are catching up. Maybe you broke the law and believe that God has put you on a shelf. Maybe you're struggling with the guilt of addictions. You wake up in the morning and say, "No more. I'm not going to drink anymore. I'm through with crack cocaine. I'm through going to those gosh awful sites on the internet." Two days later you're at it again.

Many of you are living in past. You can't let go of it. Your failures and disappointments and disobedience have thrown you into shame and depression. God's forgiveness is available to you. As long as your heart is beating, His arms are stretched wide. If you're living under a ton of guilt, it's not God's fault. It's yours. He's waiting on you to make your move to Him.

Here is my word of warning: If you are not a Christ-follower, it is possible for you to commit the unpardonable sin. That's why it is critical that you respond to Jesus today. If you have committed your life to Jesus, you cannot be guilty of the unpardonable sin. The God who saved you by His grace will keep you saved by His grace. But take warning, those of you who have not received Christ in your life. There can come a time in your life that your heart becomes so hardened that you will never come to God asking for His forgiveness. It's not that God won't forgive you. It's that your refusal to move toward Him has resulted in a settled hardness in your heart. If you die without seeking His forgiveness, you are guilty of the unpardonable sin.

And don't rationalize that you have plenty of time to move toward God. That's like playing with dynamite. Take a look in today's obituary column and count how many people under 50 years of age died in the last day or so. I'm not trying to create a doom and gloom picture for you. But I am trying to warn you that you aren't promised tomorrow, but at the same time encourage you by saying that God loves you very much and forgiveness is readily available through Him.