The Blasphemy Against the Spirit will not be Forgiven

As we are approaching to the feast, I have thought about what message to give you, and I decided to continue with these messages I've been giving about the book of Matthew. And as we've been discussing, the book of Matthew covers the Gospel that Christ was or is the Lord and King and the Messiah. And we've been focusing in a section in the middle between chapters 4 and 16, which, wherein Christ does as a responsibility of calling people to repentance. And Matthew reporting in that section shows that Christ is the Lord.

And then we started a couple of weeks back in Matthew 11 and 12, covering some of the prophecies and warnings that Christ gave or that pointed to Christ. And so today, brethren, I want to continue with that section, but specifically highlight a section where it gives us a warning about being careful of not blaspheming against God's Holy Spirit. It is a very sober subject because we all have been called. None of us is, as we say, not many wise men are called, as we sang. And sometimes we see some of the brethren temporarily being derailed and always pains our heart and we always pray for them.

But there is a warning that we've got to be careful not to allow that to go too far because we've got to repent and come back. Because if we get into that slippery slide, we've got to be careful not to neglect our calling. And as we are approaching the feast and we go to the feast, it is so easy to allow the various activities at the feast to distract us from the things that we need to do, which is staying close to God, putting God first, praying and doing Bible study. And it's so easy to allow the physical things to become more important. So let's go back then to Matthew chapter 11.

Matthew chapter 11. And let's just reiterate some of the items we have covered previously and then focus on the section that we're going to complete today, which is the rest of Matthew 12. But so we're going to start Matthew 11 because from 11 and 12 it's between two of Christ's sermons, let's call them that.

And so in Matthew 11 we see John the Baptist identifying Jesus Christ as the one. And then his apostles come and ask, Are you the one? And Christ says, Well, look at miracles. Look at what has been done. So the very fact that John the Baptist was the one that was pointing to Christ for false prophecy. And that is a section there that we have covered in a previous sermon. And then a little bit further in verse 20, it shows how Christ is now rebuking or giving a warning to these cities.

And he says, Listen, when the message went to Tyre and to Sidon and to Sodom, there was no mercy on them. But had somebody like me been preaching and giving them a warning, they would have repented. And so Christ saying, In the day of judgment, it will be more horrible to these cities than to you.

It shows a couple of things. Number one, that both those Gentile cities as well as the Jews will be living together on the day of judgment. That's what we understand to be the Great White Throne period. That is what we call the Second Resurrection. So they will be together. And then from there, then Christ is calling the people to Him and He says, Come to Me and I'll give you rest. In other words, repent, come to Me and I'll give you rest.

And in that process of saying that, He says, He identifies Himself as the Lord. Because He says in verses 25 through 27, He thanks God that these things were hidden from the people, from the wise people, and from mankind. Because this is what God wanted to. And then He says in verse 27, All things had been delivered to Me. In other words, God, according to God's will, according to, as it says in verse 26, it seemed good to God. This is what God wanted and God delegated everything to Jesus Christ.

Everything was given to Jesus Christ by the Father. In other words, Christ is, in modern way of putting it, is the executive doing the work under the authority of the Father. And therefore, He says, Therefore come to Me and I'll give you rest. Now this is also very interesting because He says, that's in verse 28, He says, Come to Me all you will labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Now obviously, this is duality again. Think about it. When you and I are close to God and Christ is in us, we have that peace of mind that is beyond understanding, which is real rest. But you know the real rest that Christ is going to give us is going to be at His coming when He's going to give rest to this earth in a millennial rest. And even beyond, the really ultimate rest is the kingdom of God when you and I will be in the kingdom of God.

He will give us that rest. So it is kind of duality and more than duality there in the play. And that's the meaning of the Sabbath, thinking about it. Sabbath is a day of rest. And so I'll give you rest. Sabbath symbolizes obviously the creation, but because it was always created and God rested on the seventh day. But that rest is symbolic of the rest to come, which is these four holidays.

Think about it. These four holidays point to that rest to come when Christ comes and is going to bring rest to this earth. And beyond, to those that will then be spirit beings, will have rest in the kingdom of God. And the hope is that the whole of mankind will repent and change and be in the kingdom of God. So that is says, I will give you rest. A wonderful meaning.

And then he continues in Chapter 12. And this is more or less where we stopped previously in Chapter 12, where now he and the disciples are walking in the fields, plucking the heads of grain and eating.

And we went through that and we showed that that was on the Sabbath, but it was also on the last day of Unleavened Bread. There was a high day in that year. So we went through that. We showed that as well. And now we have a wonderful meaning of the Sabbath because it's a time of rest. So Christ says, I'll give you rest. Now he brings you on the Sabbath.

And the people are walking and he is going to heal people, as you'll see later. He is going to heal people, the man who, and therefore they're going to accuse him that he's got a demon because of healing on the earth. He's going to heal that Sabbath. But Yah is doing this. And then they started accusing him. They started accusing him that Christ and the apostles are sinners because they're plucking grain. They're plucking grain and eating.

And then he says, you guys are missing the picture. You guys are missing the picture because you're being accusatory on a tiny little thing. And really the big picture is, as he puts there, is that God is looking for mercy. God is looking for an attitude of mercy, an attitude of forgiveness, a different spirit, and you are missing the picture.

He says here in verse 7, I desire mercy and not sacrifice. You would not have condemned the guiltless. If you understood this point, you would have not condemned the guiltless because they're not guilty just going around in the field and picking up grain and eating it. Albeit it was a Sabbath. But they found that as a point of criticism. Albeit is a point for us, brethren, a point for us to meditate because it's so easy when somebody says something or does something that kind of you and I perceive through our glasses of perception. Therefore we might perceive it incorrectly. But we perceive it that that person did this deliberately to hurt us or something like that. It's so easy for us to just pull the trigger and be accusative that quickly. It is so easy. And when we do that, we are creating a barrier between us and people. And like we heard in the sermon, we have to have an attitude of loving care towards other people.

We always got to prefer others above us. And as we go to the feast, it's a wonderful principle for us to think all the time, to put others above. But yeah, we had people walking down the field on a Sabbath, which is some grain of barley, because, you know, this was at the end of the days of a different bread. And it was a high day, and it was a weekly Sabbath, and they just took the grain and ate. And so he says, you are criticizing these people because you think, you know, of all these things about religion and the temple, etc. And the eye is one. Christ is talking to himself. The eye is one that is greater than the temple. You have all this religious thing, and the eye is one that is greater than the temple. Now, do you grasp what Christ is actually saying?

Christ is saying that he is the Lord.

You see, in verse 8 says, For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath. Now, these Jews, they knew their Bible, I mean, the Old Testament. They knew how to quote Scriptures, and they understood a lot of that. So, when you talk about the Sabbath, you don't have to turn there, but think about Exodus 20, verse 10, which is where he talks about the Sabbath. And he says, The Sabbath of the Lord your God.

The Sabbath of the Lord. It's the Sabbath that belongs to the Lord your God. And Christ is saying, I am the Lord of the Sabbath. In other words, he is the Lord of the Sabbath, the Sabbath which belongs to the Lord, which is your God. Can you see what Christ is saying? And can you see how they really get irate with those statements?

So, by no means am I not saying that the Father is not involved. Of course, the Father is involved. Because Christ is doing everything according to the Father's will. But they used an opportunity to accuse Christ.

And why? Because they were self-righteous. Think about it. They were self-righteous. They wanted to follow God. And they had this attitude of self-righteousness around them. And so again, as we go to the feast, and we've got to be so careful how we come across. That we come across as brethren, caring for others, looking for those that are lonely, that need contact as we are going to sermon it. Such an important message. And let's have that attitude of mercy and kindness towards one another. Let's read in verses 9 and 10 of chapter 12 of Matthew. It says, Now when he had departed from there, he went to do this in a garden. So that was on that day on the Sabbath. And there was a man who had a withered hand, and they asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?

You see, you see the attitude? It's not an attitude of brotherly love.

Because, I mean, it's lawful to do good any day, isn't it? To serve anybody any day is lawful. But why? And he asked him that they might accuse him. The key word is accuse. They had an accusatory spirit. And look at verse 13 through 14. Or rather, I beg your pardon, verse 11 through 14. Then he said to them, What man is there among you who has one sheep? And if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out. He just finished telling them about mercy.

You know, to God's more important to have mercy than sacrifice. And he brings this example again. How much more value then is a man than a sheep? Therefore, it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath. And then he said to the man, Stretch out your hand, and he stretched it out, and it was restored as whole as the other. Then the Pharisees went out and plotted. They premeditated. Think about it. When you plot, that means you've premeditated. You do it deliberately with an intent.

It's not just a neglect, a slipping by, or letting it go. It's actually deliberate, intentional, preplanned, premeditated action. They plotted against him how they might destroy him. In other words, how they might kill him. They started scheming how to kill Christ. Right there! You still had to preach for another two years, and therefore you had to keep ducking away, put it in another way, from these people until the time was right. But they were there already. In verse 15, when, but when Jesus knew it, he knew, he perceived, he saw it, he felt that vibe, you know, as we put it in today's language. That that's what they wanted to do. Then he threw from there, and great multitudes followed him. And continued reading them. And yet he warned them not to make, not to make him known, that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying, So he told them, listen, don't tell everybody where I'm going, so that he could still complete preaching the gospel. He says, look at the verse 18, what is quoted here from Isaiah. Behold, my servant, whom I have chosen, in it was Christ. My beloved, that's Christ, in whom my soul is well pleased. Christ with whom the Father is well pleased. I'll put my spirit upon him, and he will declare justice to the Gentiles. And look at verse 19, he will not quarrel. Now this is Christ's first coming. He will not quarrel, nor cry out. Nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets. He wasn't coming out as the new ruler, and putting out proclamations, and saying, this is what we're going to do, because his first coming was not as a ruler, as a Messiah. His first coming was just as a suffering servant.

Verse 20, a bruised reed, he will not break. So his first coming was not to correct and change things. A smoking flax, he will not quench. That was his first coming. Till, now he's talking about the second coming, till he sends forth justice to victory. That will be his second coming. When he comes at the second coming, he will send justice to victory. At the second coming, he will establish the kingdom on earth, the kingdom of God, the ruler on earth, and that's when he will send justice to victory. There will be justice in this world. Brethren, justice is not victorious in this world today. We all pray that our kingdom come, and that you will be done on earth as it is in heaven, because it's not done on earth today. And in his name the Gentiles will trust. So, we can see here that in the first coming Christ's approach was one of a suffering servant, and starting from the Jews he preached the way of salvation. To all mankind, but he did not impose his authority till he returns, till justice wins, because then in the world tomorrow there will be no more false accusations. He will sort that out very quickly. I mean, you and I listen to some people say things today on TV, and that will not be allowed in the world tomorrow. It will not be allowed. It's just wrong will not be promulgated that way. Christ will not have any of that. And thank God that he's coming to bring peace to earth. And then he goes on in verse 22, Then one was brought to him, was demon possessed, blind and mute. Here as a man, because through a demon, somehow he had become blind and mute. And he needed to be healed, and Christ healed him. So that the blind and mute man both spoke and saw. And so he has another miracle proving that he's Christ, that he's a Messiah. And all the multitudes were amazed, and said, could this be the son of David? Could this be the Messiah, the promised son of David?

Verse 24, Now when the Pharisees heard, heard it, they said, This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons. He's only casting demons because Satan is giving him that power.

You can see again, their self-righteousness, their attitude of self-righteousness led to a false accusation. And they started pouring a false intent and condemning. And from that condemnation led to a spirit of murder. As we said, they were trying to destroy him, they're trying to kill him. So again, here's an important lesson for us to meditate. We must not allow wrong thoughts when someone is doing well. First, as we see somebody doing well, do we then say, Oh, because he's doing well, because he's intent to grab power. Well, maybe he is, maybe he isn't. But we've got to be careful that we don't prejudge the judgments. We've got to be pretty careful that we don't allow our human nature of starting to imply motives to people with our own self-righteousness to take root. Because then, that over years, it becomes something dangerous. You see, they accuse Jesus Christ to have an evil intent. And he says, well, he's doing it because he's serving Bill Zebub. In other words, he's serving an evil spirit. Again, they do not have compassion for that man that was being healed. They do not show mercy. And this was based on their attitude of self-righteousness, only thinking about themselves instead of looking for the well-being of others.

They do not see their sin. And because they did not see their sin, they did not see the need to repent.

And one thing they did, and this is where the danger is, God was doing a work, and God was doing a work through Christ, through the power of his spirit, and he was healing people. And they accused the very work that God was doing. They accused that, and they said that it was Satan's work. And he has a danger.

This is where they got into real hot water. And that's why Christ got very cross with them and said, Be careful that you don't blaspheme against what is being done through the power of God's Holy Spirit. You see, they saw or heard of Jesus Christ's deeds. Think about it. For instance, in Matthew 9, he healed a paralytic man. Then he restored a girl to life that she was dead. That's in verses around about 23, 24, 25, or chapter 9. Then there were two blind men that were healed also in chapter 9. Then we have also in chapter 9 of Matthew, a man which was demon-possessed and mute that was healed.

Then there were various kinds of illnesses and diseases were healed. We saw just three in chapter 12, a man with a withered hand being completely healed. And we saw a demon-possessed man which was blind and mute, which was healed.

Miracles that could only come from God and through God's power. And they allowed their wrong thoughts, their wrong ideas of righteousness. Their own ideas as well, you can't do this and you can't do that. Their own self-righteousness to then take the thought of human nature and that allow them, they allow that to take root. And from that, they start accusing Christ. As you can see in verse 24, This fellow does not cost humans except by bills about the rule of demons.

So we can see that we have to manage our human nature. They do not manage the human nature. They do not control the human nature. They allowed certain attitudes to go wild in their lives. And when one allows that, then you can't see on sin and you don't see the need to repent.

Their accusations were false because they knew the truth. They knew that he indeed had healed us. Christ had healed those people. But their accusations and their actions were deliberate and premeditated. Because as they looked for a way, they plotted for a way to destroy him. So it was deliberate and premeditated. So they knew they were wrong, but they planned to kill him intentionally and deliberately. And therefore, they were trying to discredit the work that was being done through God's Holy Spirit. The work of a merciful God through the power of God's Holy Spirit that was healing people. And therefore, Christ then says here in Matthew 12 verse 25, Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand. Every nation that's divided against itself will not stand. Brethren, we look at our nations in the world, we look at this country and many other countries. There's such a divide within the country that it says it will not stand. It is frightful when you read this. So he continues, Therefore if Satan, verse 26, casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then would his kingdom stand? And if I, Christ, cast out demons by a bill of the Bible, by whom your sons are casting them out? Because some of your people, God has given them the capability, yes indeed, to cast out demons.

So are they also being inspired by Satan then? God, in his mercy, can walk through various people and do various miracles. It's amazing. Therefore, verse 28, But if I cast the demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has counted upon you. If I'm doing it with God's Holy Spirit, through the power of God's Holy Spirit, then the kingdom, the government of God, through its actions, is present here and is acting here. Verse 29, How can one enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first abides a strong man? How can you go into somebody's house and destroy his things unless you hold that man back? Because he won't allow you to do it. Which Satan is a strong man in the spirit world, and therefore it's going to be God's Spirit, which is more powerful than him.

He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters abroad. Therefore, say to you, verse 31, Every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the spirit will not be forgiven men.

Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him. But whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, neither in this age nor in the age to come. He's talking about an unforgivable sin.

So we have to be very careful, brethren. We have to be very careful to not deliberately or intentionally discredit God's power through his Spirit, God's Word. Particularly after we know the truth, whether we're baptized or not. We've got to be very careful. God is doing a work. Are we discrediting that work of God?

So, brethren, we have to be very careful. These people had an opportunity to repent. Christ was making it very clear to them to repent, but they deliberately did not want to. Paul explains this a little bit more in detail in Hebrews 10. So keep a marker there on Matthew, but let's look at Hebrews 10. Verse 26. Hebrews 10. He says, if we sin willfully.

Now, woefully. That means that one deliberately, intentionally, woefully, knowing better, premeditated. That's what it means if we sin woefully after we receive the knowledge of truth. So if we are sinning liberally, intentionally, knowing better, why would we do that? Why would somebody do that? Because he doesn't want to repent, right? Because he doesn't want to repent. Because if he wanted to repent, he wouldn't do that. So, the danger is that it's not like a switch from Yah to there. The danger is sometimes that Satan is so clever and brings us gently, slowly to that state. From this state to that state. So, we must not neglect contact with God. We must not neglect prayer. We go to the feast, lovely time.

Are we neglecting prayer during the feast? Are we neglecting Bible study during the feast?

And during our daily lives, are we doing occasional fasting, or do we only do it on the day of the time? Are we meditating about what we learn about our Bible study? How can you and I can put it into practice? How can we do things in a way that are pleasing to God? Are we doing that?

Or, are we slowly falling into the trap that the things of the world become more interesting? Whatever they are, whatever they are. Could be TV, could be work, could be whatever. I mean, there's a thousand and one traps. I don't know them all by no means, but there are a thousand and one traps. And that's why it says, seek you the kingdom first, and his righteousness. Matthew 6, 33. We've got to put God first. That's why it says in Luke 14, counter costs. You've got to love God above all others. Wife, children, even your own life and my own life. And we have to look at ourselves and say, yeah, maybe you don't do it intentionally, but we've got to be careful that we don't start letting it slip and slide slowly. And if we do, we need to pull it back because we don't want it to get so far behind that then we get to a point where we don't want to change anymore. That's the point. So we all, brethren, we all slumber and sleep. It says ten virgins, they all slumber and slept. So that means they all kind of, you know, let it go a little bit, but we have to pull ourselves back. We have to pull ourselves back. Look at in Hebrews 6, verse 4 and 5. Hebrews 6, verse 4 and 5. Hebrews 6, verse 4 and 5. It says, for it is impossible for those who were enlightened and have tasted the heavenly gift and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the day should come. If they fall away, it is impossible to renew them to repentance. Why? Because they don't want to repent. That's why. You see, if we allow it to drop so far down, we can get to a point where we do not want to repent. That it is impossible to get back because we don't want to repent. One could get to the point and say, I don't want to do this, I'm not interested, that's it, that's it, finished. In other words, it's impossible to get back to repentance because it says, since they crucify again to themselves the Son of God and put him to open shame. So, the danger is, not just that point, but the danger is that we must not allow us to creep in slowly, like the proverbial hot water and the frog, you know, and kind of slowly creeps in and by the time, then it gets too light. So, we must monitor ourselves carefully and not neglect to allow us to creep in slowly.

We must not neglect this to happen. We must not get to the point that we do not want to repent. So, that is the unportable sin. Unportable sin is when you don't want to repent. You've gone too far out, you don't want to repent. Why? Because it's deliberately and intentionally and reach the point that with premeditated thinking, it does not want to repent. And, you know, the danger is that this can creep in. This can creep in. Let's go back to Matthew 12. Matthew 12. Well, before that, I want to show you about neglect. There's a scripture here in Hebrews 2 that I skipped and I would like to highlight to you. Hebrews 2, very important scripture. Hebrews 2, verse 1-4. Hebrews 2, verse 1-4 says, Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard lest we drift away. There was one we've heard. We must give double attention that we don't drift away. For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received the just reward, how shall we escape if we neglect? So gracious salvation, which at first began to spoken by Christ Himself and was confirmed to us by those who heard it. You see, so this point of neglecting that we can't, it's so easy. It says to start drifting away, drifting away, drifting away.

And then we go all the way. We've got to be careful. And we've got to pull ourselves back. Whenever you and I see ourselves starting to fall asleep, starting to get a little bit off track, pull ourselves back. And that's why the feast is such a wonderful time. Because at the feast we've got the time to actually say, let me get back closer to God. But there is a danger that with all the physical things around the feast, we neglect prayer and Bible study. So please keep the right balance there. Keep the right balance. Don't allow it to neglect. So let's go back to Matthew chapter 12. Matthew chapter 12 verse 33 through 37. It says, either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for a tree is known by its fruit. In other words, if you and I are neglecting things and starting this to drift away, sooner or later it's going to come out. Sooner or later it's going to say something that you should have not said. So it starts inside the mind, inside our heart. Maybe we're just not exercising the self-control we should. And we start drifting away. And then sooner or later it's going to come out. And it's going to be fruit. Brudovitis. How can you, being evil, speak good things? For are the bonus of the heart to now speak? So these people had allowed themselves to drift so far out that they now were evil, outrightly evil. And they were doing evil. In other words, the self-righteous, the human nature had taken over them. They were now premeditating and deliberately and intentionally wanting to kill Christ.

Verse 35, A good man out of a good treasure out of his heart brings forth good things. And an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. The point is, you and I know that our heart is by nature evil. It's wrong. It's got the wrong. So we have to repent and be converted.

That means changed. Change our minds and our heart. So you and I have to be working continuously at our human nature to change it from human to divine nature. We're going to be working this. Second Peter tells us, you know, God's given us all the things through his spirit to change from human nature to divine nature. But the point is, we're going to be working this all the time. Brethren, I'm not better than you. I have to work it myself, too. Every day I have to work it myself, too.

We all, by nature, are not, as we heard in the sermon, we're not necessarily the most loving people. But we have to work it and ask God to help us, to give us all his spirit and be continuously working on this to receive God's all his spirit to change us. Because I can't do it. You can't do it. We need God's help and we need to ask God for that help.

But God gives us time, brethren. God is so merciful. He's so merciful. You know, we see the world is just goes and these people are evil and do evil and more evil and more evil. And sometimes you and I say, but when is it going to stop? You know, brethren, God's giving them time in the hope that some will repent.

And thank God God gives us time. He does give us time. But now we've got to work on in changing our hearts. We've got to work on to cleanse our hearts before it's too late. We've got the time now and God is giving it to us.

Let's go on reading it. Verse 36. But I say to you that for every idle word men who may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. Wow! You and I have to be so careful. And what do we say? Because every idle word will be judged for it.

And so it's frightening, particularly as ministers and speakers, we speak a lot. We've got to be careful. We've got to really look and pray. Ask God, please help us to say the right words and to change our hearts. So our hearts are clean and pure. We need to ask God for that.

For by your words, you will be justified and by your words, you'll be condemned. It's just we've got to look at ourselves. And because it comes out of the heart, we need to be asking God. Like we heard in the sermon at the gang in Romans 12, verse 1, it says, Be you transformed. Have the metamorphosis of your mind to be transformed to be a new man.

Continue now reading in verse 38. Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, Teacher, we want to see a sign from you. Now, they have seen a lot of signs. Miracles have been performed, as I described, healings and things. But they wanted another sign from Christ Himself.

And so, yeah, we have what Christ says. But He answered and said to them, An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a son. Now, it's not just the city. It's the generation. It's this age. And brethren, it's like we live in an age. It's this age. It's this. Everywhere is this. And it's not just in the States. You can go to other countries and see the same sort of spirit, the same sort of things that's going in this age. It's an age we're living of. It's an evil and adulterous generation seeks after a son. And no sign will be given to it, except the sign of the prophet Jonah.

Jesus Christ gave only one other prophetic sign that He is a Messiah. And this is for as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish. So will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. So He said, you'd only give one other sign. And the sign is that He would be in the heart of the earth. It basically means in the real and total entombed.

That's what it is, the heart, the real heart. That means you'll be in the heart. In other words, you'll be really dead in the tomb for three days and three nights. Now obviously He was dead in the tomb for that period. But He was dead a few hours before they put Him in the tomb as well. So when He died, say about three o'clock, He was dead. And many other scriptures say that He will resurrect the third day.

And some people say, oh well, what do you mean by the third day? When is the third day? Well, say for instance, you order something online. And they say, we'll deliver it to you on the third day. And provided you order within the next 10 hours or 11 hours, in other words, before the end of today, you'll deliver it for instance on the third day. So if you, for instance, you order something on Wednesday and it says, you'll deliver it to you, provided you do it before the end of the day, which you have so many hours before the end of the day, provided you order it today, we'll deliver it to you on the third day. When is the third day? So if it's Wednesday, the first day is Thursday, the second day is Friday, and the third day is Saturday. Simple. So He was resurrected at the end of Saturdays, the third day. That's it. He was in the tomb for three days and three nights. And at the end of that, He was resurrected. So there's no problem with that. But the sinful generation wanted a sign. So that's the only sign He gave. It's the only sign. Another interesting scripture a lot of people may not have thought of it is in Matthew 28 verse 1. Matthew 28 verse 1.

And it says, Now, after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Now, regrettably, this is a bad translation. Because now after the Sabbath, in fact, should be Sabbath because it's Sabbath in Greek. After the Sabbath, as it says, the first day of the week began to dawn.

But in Greek is, is mea sabaton, which meant into the beginning of the Sabbath or of the weeks. So the beginning of the week of that, the next week, is actually at sunset, by the beginning. So it was not the dawn in the morning, but it was at the end of the Sabbath as the next day was starting at sunset. So it's and then they came and then there was this earthquake and then the God saw the earthquake.

So there is earthquake as Christ was resurrected. There was an earthquake. This is at the end of the Sabbath at the beginning of the first day of the week, which is obviously after sunset. That's when the day begins. And then when that's when he was resurrected. So everything fits in in Scripture. So let's continue with Matthew chapter 12. So he says, Yeah, it's an evil generation. But he says the man of Nineveh will rise up in judgment as well as the queen of the South will rise up in judgment with this generational condemn it. Why? Because the man of Nineveh repented. And the queen of South came to listen to somebody, which was Solomon, which is a lot less than Christ.

And so those people come with this will at the resurrection that is at the second resurrection. They will condemn this generation. They will be resurrected together. And so he gives them another warning. And then he concludes the section before he goes on to the next sermon, which is the parables, a number of parables in chapter 13. He concludes this section with a continuation of a warning and then an encouragement. And the warning is, yeah, he says, If you don't repent and challenge, you're going to get into a worse state.

And then the encouragement is saying, but remember that if you do repent and challenge, you are my brothers and sisters. So let's look at that because he says, When an unclean spirit goes out of a man and he goes through dry places seeking rest and finds the mountain, then he says, I'll return to my house from which I came. He's referring, yes, these people that were demons and had been cleansed. And he's using that as an example. And he says, If you you've got this thing, you better repent and change.

And he says, Because then that spirit will return to where he came from. And when he comes, he finds that person empty, swept and put in order. That's a very interesting statement. Empty means they've done nothing about it. In other words, they have not filled their lives with good works with God's Holy Spirit. So they empty. They just went along without doing anything. You and I have to live a life by doing good works, doing what you and I know what to do. And swept, yes, it was clean. They had taken the spirit that left. But he says, And the house was put in order.

In the King James Version, says the house was garnished. In the Derby, version says, was adorned. Which basically means that it still had, let's call it, all these pagan ideas in it. They still had not really changed themselves. So what Christ is saying here is, When we repent, we gotta be changed. We must not just kind of stop doing the old bad things and stay that way. We gotta change and we gotta put on the new. We gotta put in God's Spirit. We gotta fill it up with good, clean water. We gotta fill it up with God's mind and God's actions.

Otherwise, we go back to the same thing and we even get worse. That's what he's saying. And because he says, verse 45, Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits, more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there. And the lost state of that man is worse than the first.

So shall it be with this weaker generation. So we are in this generation. God has called us. We have to make a change, a deliberate change, and fill ourselves with God's Holy Spirit and live and do. And therefore, we must have true repentance and conversion. And then he concludes with an encouragement, starting in verse 46. He says, While he was still talking to the multitudes, behold, his mother and brothers stood outside seeking to speak to him.

You know, it was his physical mother and physical brothers where they wanted to speak to him. This is interesting because the Catholic Church says Mary was virgin and never had other children. So there is the proof that she did have other physical children. So anyway, verse 47, Then one said to him, Look, your mother and your brothers are standing outside seeking to speak to you.

And then he also then said to the one who told him, Who is my mother and who are my brothers? And he has encouragement to us forever. He has an encouragement. He stretched out his hand towards the disciples and said, Ye are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my father, whoever does the will of God the Father, in heaven, he is my brother and sister and mother.

Brethren, this is so encouraging. It's such a big encouragement to all of us. Because as you and I know the truth and as you and I put it to practice and as you and I do what is pleasing in God's sight, we will become brothers of Christ. He will call us brothers and that is so encouragement. So as the book of Matthew describes this encouraging principles that the very being, the word, became man and is calling us to repentance. He also says, as we go, for instance, and we change our lives, we will then be his brothers and sisters in the kingdom of God.

What better hope than that do we have? So may I wish you all, brethren, have a lovely feast.