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 The Unpardonable Sin
Jesus said that there is a sin which is unpardonable:
but what is it? On death row at the Huntsville State
Penitentiary in Texas is a man who is waiting to die.*
He had the gospel shared with him many times. In fact,
he is listed as a member of a Baptist church in Houston.
But several years ago on Halloween night, he put
potassium cyanide in some candy and poisoned his
nine-year-old son. The story made the headlines of major
newspapers. All the television stations in Houston came
to a stop when the news directors announced. “There is
a maniac loose in the city of Houston.
Note: All stories are documented in the files of
the Houston Police Department.
Bring your children in off the streets
In the wee hours of the morning the boy died from
having convulsions, Reportedly, his father said at the
hospital. “I'll spend the rest of my life tracking
down the murderer.”
A few days later the entire city of Houston was
shocked when the mayor and the chief of police called
a newscast to announce that the father had been
indicted for the murder of his son.
On death row the inmates call him “the candy man.”
He is hated. But “the candy man” did not commit the
unpardonable sin. What he did was a horrible crime, but
murder is not the unpardonable sin.In another part of
Houston, there was a 23-year-old man named Johnny
Garrison, who robbed a liquor store. Johnny was a friend
of mine. Johnny went into the liquor store and when the
manager who was confined to a wheelchair grabbed a
pistol, Johnny shot him to death. I visited Johnny many
times on death row, and I preached his funeral after his
life was snuffed out. But, listen, murder is not the
unpardonable sin. I have preached to thousands of people
who are in far worse shape than some murderers I have
met. Why? Because their sins helped murder the Son of
God, Jesus Christ. They helped nail Him to the
cross.
If the unpardonable sin isn’t murder, what is it?
Is it adultery? In New Orleans, Louisiana, several years
ago I was preaching and a young woman came forward
during the middle of my sermon, She fell at the altar
and began to scream. “God won’t forgive me! God won’t
forgive me!!”I noticed that her hair was bleached and
she had needle tracks down her arms. She was a junkie.
Two women counselors came and began to pray with her,
but she kept saying, “I’ve committed the
unpardonable sin.” I slipped down from the platform
and knelt beside her. “I’m a prostitute,” she
said, “I sell my body in order to get a fix. My father
asked me to come hear you preach tonight Can you help
me?"
Her father later told me his daughter had been
on drugs since she was 17 and had become a prostitute
to support her habit. He had sent her a book I wrote,
called Pulpit In The Shadows. I had appeared on a talk
show that day and she recognized me as the author of
the book. So, she had called a cab to bring her to the
Central Baptist Church where she now knelt at the
altar a broken woman.
We told her, “You haven’t committed the
unpardonable sin.” But she said, “You don’t
understand. I’ve murdered three innocent unborn
babies.”“God will forgive you,” I insisted. “He
will change your life. Jesus Christ will set you free.”
Tragically, we never convinced her. She left the
church without Christ in her heart. A few weeks later
we received a newspaper clipping which said she had
gone to a third-rate motel, taken a pistol, put it to
her head, and blown her brains out.
Her father was a millionaire, but it just wasn’t
enough to keep her satisfied. Sin! It always thrills at
first, and then it kills. It fascinates, and then it
assassinates.
It’s the one game you can never win, the sin
game.
In New York City, I preached one night, and down the
aisle came a young man who knelt at the altar, Bible in
hand. He motioned for me to come talk with him, so I
did. As I knelt beside him, he said, “God won’t
forgive me, I’m a homosexual, a sex pervert. God can’t
save me. I’ve committed the unpardonable sin.” I
told him, “God can make you a new creature.” Listen,
there will be no homosexuals in heaven, but I’ve seen
homosexuals completely transformed by Jesus Christ. God
changed their lives. Homosexuality is not the
unpardonable sin. It isn’t murder, or adultery, or
prostitution. But what is it then? It is not
gambling. A friend of mine in Houston lost his entire
fortune through gambling. Ten years ago he was a
multi-millionaire. Today he is bankrupt because of his
gambling, but the unpardonable sin is not gambling.
Jesus declared that there is a sin you can commit for
which you can never be forgiven. He said it is possible
to commit a sin that cannot be pardoned in this world or
in the world to come. The mere thought makes me shudder!
It makes cold sweat break out on my body! It brings
before my vision screaming, damned men and women. I can
see their horrified faces and the hopeless condition of
their souls. I can see something of what Jesus
meant when He said, “They shall never be forgiven.”
In Genesis 6:3 God said,
“My spirit shall not always strive
with man.” |
