What it Is... Mark 3:22 -- "And the scribes who had come down from Jerusalem were saying, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and, “By the prince of the demons He drives out demons.”
28 "Truly I tell you, the sons of men will be forgiven all sins and blasphemies, as many as they utter. 29But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of eternal sin.” 30 Jesus made this statement because they were claiming, “He has an unclean spirit.”
Jesus made this statement in Mark 3:28 because of what THE PHARISEES said in Mark 3:22 -- That JESUS was possessed by the prince of the demons... They called THE HOLY SPIRIT which Jesus had without measure Beelzebub. He did not say that doubt or questioning God or even using a Scripture out of context or even murder or immorality was unpardonable... He said calling the Work of THe Holy Spirit the Work of the devil is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit...
Second -- what it is not... It is not complaining about God or even saying God is unjust or else Job, David, Jeremiah, and others in the Bible would be in Hell right now...
Many of God's sincere people have doubted or questioned His faithfulness -- about 40 of the 42 chapters of Job are Job's complaining -- Jeremiah despised life, Jeremiah 15:10-11;
"Woe to me, my mother, that you have borne me As a man of strife and a man of contention to all the land! I have not lent, nor have men lent money to me, Yet everyone curses me. But the LORD said, "Surely I will set you free for purposes of good; Surely I will cause the enemy to make supplication to you In a time of disaster and a time of distress."
So did Paul and his companions... 2 Cor 1:8-10; "We do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the hardships we encountered in the province of Asia. We were under a burden far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. 9Indeed, we felt we were under the sentence of death, in order that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God, who raises the dead. 10He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and He will deliver us. In Him we have placed our hope that He will yet again deliver us,
I do think we need the truth, however... Joshua 21:44-45 "And the LORD gave them rest on every side, according to all that He had sworn to their fathers, and no one of all their enemies stood before them; the LORD gave all their enemies into their hand. 45Not one of the good promises which the LORD had made to the house of Israel failed; all came to pass."
It took Abraham 25 years for the promise of Isaac to come to pass. Do you think he doubted? Yes! Ishmael is the proof! But, like Joseph, The Word of the Lord proved faithful..."They afflicted his feet with fetters, He himself was laid in irons; 19Until the time that his word came to pass, The word of the LORD tested him. 20The king sent and released him, The ruler of peoples, and set him free. He made him lord of his house And ruler over all his possessions, 22To imprison his princes at will, That he might teach his elders wisdom. 23Israel also came into Egypt; Thus Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham.… And He caused His people to be very fruitful, And made them stronger than their adversaries."
I think the fundamental problem in the Body of Christ is two-fold -- 1) They don't know the whole Bible well and thus make false statements; and, 2) They don't take the promises of God and mix them with faith... Thus even after Elijah prophesied the rain was coming, he bowed down seven (7) times to pray for the Word to come to pass, and sent his servant out until the servant saw a cloud coming the size of a man's hand. We need to pray for God's promises to come to pass: 1 Kings 18:41- 44; "Now Elijah said to Ahab, "Go up, eat and drink; for there is the sound of the roar of a heavy shower." 42So Ahab went up to eat and drink. But Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he crouched down on the earth and put his face between his knees. 43He said to his servant, "Go up now, look toward the sea." So he went up and looked and said, "There is nothing." And he said, "Go back " seven times.…It came about at the seventh time, that he said, "Behold, a cloud as small as a man's hand is coming up from the sea." And he said, "Go up, say to Ahab, 'Prepare your chariot and go down, so that the heavy shower does not stop you."
Even Elijah in the next chapter runs for his life from Jezebel until God re-commissions him for his last job and then raises up his replacement! He also gives him the revelation that HE has kept for himself 7000 (not 7001 or 6999 -- but exactly 7000) that have not bowed. This revelation of sovereignty is paramount to Paul in Romans 9-11... Paul's whole point is to not be conceited, but to tread lightly with Israel and or anyone else who we might judge -- kindness to those who continue in his kindness...
Half of David's Psalms are David complaining of how low God had brought him was and the other half of the same Psalm is God turning him around!
So let's be careful because we "Judge the servant of another... to His own Master He stands or Falls, and God is able to make Him Stand" (Rom 14:4).
James 4:12
"There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?"
28 "Truly I tell you, the sons of men will be forgiven all sins and blasphemies, as many as they utter. 29But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of eternal sin.” 30 Jesus made this statement because they were claiming, “He has an unclean spirit.”
Jesus made this statement in Mark 3:28 because of what THE PHARISEES said in Mark 3:22 -- That JESUS was possessed by the prince of the demons... They called THE HOLY SPIRIT which Jesus had without measure Beelzebub. He did not say that doubt or questioning God or even using a Scripture out of context or even murder or immorality was unpardonable... He said calling the Work of THe Holy Spirit the Work of the devil is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit...
Second -- what it is not... It is not complaining about God or even saying God is unjust or else Job, David, Jeremiah, and others in the Bible would be in Hell right now...
Many of God's sincere people have doubted or questioned His faithfulness -- about 40 of the 42 chapters of Job are Job's complaining -- Jeremiah despised life, Jeremiah 15:10-11;
"Woe to me, my mother, that you have borne me As a man of strife and a man of contention to all the land! I have not lent, nor have men lent money to me, Yet everyone curses me. But the LORD said, "Surely I will set you free for purposes of good; Surely I will cause the enemy to make supplication to you In a time of disaster and a time of distress."
So did Paul and his companions... 2 Cor 1:8-10; "We do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the hardships we encountered in the province of Asia. We were under a burden far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. 9Indeed, we felt we were under the sentence of death, in order that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God, who raises the dead. 10He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and He will deliver us. In Him we have placed our hope that He will yet again deliver us,
I do think we need the truth, however... Joshua 21:44-45 "And the LORD gave them rest on every side, according to all that He had sworn to their fathers, and no one of all their enemies stood before them; the LORD gave all their enemies into their hand. 45Not one of the good promises which the LORD had made to the house of Israel failed; all came to pass."
It took Abraham 25 years for the promise of Isaac to come to pass. Do you think he doubted? Yes! Ishmael is the proof! But, like Joseph, The Word of the Lord proved faithful..."They afflicted his feet with fetters, He himself was laid in irons; 19Until the time that his word came to pass, The word of the LORD tested him. 20The king sent and released him, The ruler of peoples, and set him free. He made him lord of his house And ruler over all his possessions, 22To imprison his princes at will, That he might teach his elders wisdom. 23Israel also came into Egypt; Thus Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham.… And He caused His people to be very fruitful, And made them stronger than their adversaries."
I think the fundamental problem in the Body of Christ is two-fold -- 1) They don't know the whole Bible well and thus make false statements; and, 2) They don't take the promises of God and mix them with faith... Thus even after Elijah prophesied the rain was coming, he bowed down seven (7) times to pray for the Word to come to pass, and sent his servant out until the servant saw a cloud coming the size of a man's hand. We need to pray for God's promises to come to pass: 1 Kings 18:41- 44; "Now Elijah said to Ahab, "Go up, eat and drink; for there is the sound of the roar of a heavy shower." 42So Ahab went up to eat and drink. But Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he crouched down on the earth and put his face between his knees. 43He said to his servant, "Go up now, look toward the sea." So he went up and looked and said, "There is nothing." And he said, "Go back " seven times.…It came about at the seventh time, that he said, "Behold, a cloud as small as a man's hand is coming up from the sea." And he said, "Go up, say to Ahab, 'Prepare your chariot and go down, so that the heavy shower does not stop you."
Even Elijah in the next chapter runs for his life from Jezebel until God re-commissions him for his last job and then raises up his replacement! He also gives him the revelation that HE has kept for himself 7000 (not 7001 or 6999 -- but exactly 7000) that have not bowed. This revelation of sovereignty is paramount to Paul in Romans 9-11... Paul's whole point is to not be conceited, but to tread lightly with Israel and or anyone else who we might judge -- kindness to those who continue in his kindness...
Half of David's Psalms are David complaining of how low God had brought him was and the other half of the same Psalm is God turning him around!
So let's be careful because we "Judge the servant of another... to His own Master He stands or Falls, and God is able to make Him Stand" (Rom 14:4).
James 4:12
"There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?"
