When People Want to Discredit You
Mark 3:22-30

INTRO: The title of the sermon this evening is; “When People Want to Discredit You”. Accusers find pleasure in trying to find fault with someone or their ideas. Modern society has taken this to a fine art. The lines between news and opinion have blurred. Now discrediting someone is not a matter of “digging up dirt” but it is simply a matter of “generating dirt” and making it stick.
The act of discrediting is not new. In Acts 2:15 we read about men who tried to discredit Peter and the apostles who had just received the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. Peter said, "These men are not drunk as you suppose." Ignorant people mock that which they do not understand. We all know that some people are not happy unless they are in an accusing mood. Accusations often begin with devilish intent. The devil was an accuser from the beginning. It is evil to accuse someone falsely without having solid proof.

The text for our lesson tonight is from the 3rd chapter of the book of Mark. I am going to read beginning at verse 22 down through verse 30. I would like you to open your Bibles and read along with me then in just a few minutes we are going to come back to the points that are made in this section of scripture.
Mark 3:22-30 – “And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, "He has Beelzebub,'' and, "By the ruler of the demons He casts out demons.'' So 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, that house cannot stand. "And if Satan has risen up against himself, and is divided, he cannot stand, but has an end. "No one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man, and then he will plunder his house. "Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they may utter; "but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation'' because they said, "He has an unclean spirit.''” [NKJ]

This section of scripture presents us with some interesting challenges. The immediate thing which we see is the fact that Jesus had enemies. It seemed the more successful His great message was, the more crowds gathered around Him, then the more strident His enemies became.

The most tragic thing is that His enemies were those people who were religious. They knew the Law of Moses extensively. They sought zealously to keep the laws. Yet, it was these people who were His most zealous enemies. They should have been His most zealous supporters, but they weren’t. They were, of course, the scribes and the Pharisees.

The scribes were people who were considered in that day to be experts. They believed in the Law of Moses. The Pharisees were those people that kept the law oh so meticulously and oh so carefully, or so they believed. The problem, of course, was that the Law of Moses had been corrupted by the traditions and the interpretations of years and years of Rabbinic tradition—Rabbinic pronouncements. These Rabbinic traditions and pronouncements had become more important than the Law of Moses itself, and Jesus was against these traditions. All that, of course, leads to the fact that Jesus has enemies, enemies that should have been His friends, but enemies nevertheless.

I. THE ACCUSATION OF THE JERUSALEM SCRIBES
A. We come to our text and we discover that scribes from Jerusalem have come down to the place where Jesus is and they begin to make accusations. It’s interesting to me that they came such a distance to do their damage.
1. Remember, up to this point, we have seen Jesus preaching and teaching in Galilee, in and around Capernaum in particular. Jerusalem by the standards of that day and time was some considerable distance away.
2. Here are the scribes who have heard of the successes of the message of Christ and of its influence over the people. This message of His has gone even as far as Jerusalem. News of His success has been heard there in the heart, the seat of the place, where Pharisaic and Scribal influence and power was greatest. Jerusalem itself.
B. The scribes made the journey for the single purpose of discrediting Jesus. They begin by saying that He is possessed by Beelzebub.
1. He casts out demons by the power of Satan.
2. He who casts out demons is Himself demon possessed. I’m sure that they were not particularly timid in the charges they were making or the accusations that they were bringing forth. They had come there to discredit Him.
II. HOW DOES JESUS ANSWER THEIR BLASPHEMOUS CHARGE?
A. Jesus response; in a general sense what He does is point out how illogical what they’re saying is.
1. What they’re saying, in effect, is Satan is casting out Satan. That doesn’t make any sense at all.
2. The point is that it doesn’t really have to make any sense—not if all they’re trying to do is to discredit Jesus. That’s the way people discredit other people. Their charges do not have to have any basis whatsoever. They can be as foolish and as ridiculous as anyone can image, but if they make them loudly enough, boldly enough, and long enough somebody is going to listen - often many “somebodies”, and this can be a powerful force. We have seen it time and again in history and it still goes on today. My mother said if someone can stir up public sentiment they can rule the day.
B. Jesus then says: if what you are charging is true, that means Satan is against Satan. Next He uses some illustrations. The text says He spoke in parables. These parables are illustrations of the point that He is making, that what they’re charging against Him is illogical. It doesn’t make any sense. Anybody who thinks about it is going to realize that.
1. He first says a kingdom divided against its self cannot stand. Verse 24. If there’s a raging civil war in a kingdom or a nation then that nation is going to be weak and ineffective. We can see this in situations that exist right now in our world. Very real situations. Take for example, Iraq. Who knows the outcome of what’s going on there? What should have been an opportunity for a nation to be formed and grow and be strong has become a situation in which the nation is weak and ineffectual.
2. A house that is divided against itself, He goes on to say, cannot stand. A divided house is a house that is in deep trouble. Have you ever heard the phrase “divide and conquer”? Plainly even the physical world shows this truth. It is fairly easy to break one stick and quite another matter to break a bundle of sticks tied together.
3. Both of the illustrations that Jesus uses speak profoundly and plainly to you and me—to our hopes, to our families and to the church. If our homes and our families are divided, then they are in trouble. If the church is divided, it truly is in trouble.
4. In the book of Psalms at; Psalms 133:1, the psalmist says: Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! [para]
5. Logically, folks, strength demands unity. This is the argument that Jesus is making in response to the illogical statements and charges which are brought against Him. Don’t you understand that strength demands unity? What you are saying is that Satan is against himself.
6. The power of His logic demanded that they see how foolish their charge was - the logical end of their accusation would be the end of Satan.
C. Next He makes a reference in the text to a strong man. In the text the strong man is overcome by one stronger than he is.
1. It is evident that Jesus really is casting out demons. Evident even to His enemies. If you read enough of the gospels you will come across references to His accusers acknowledging that He truly is casing out demons.
2. If He’s not doing this by the power of Satan, and He says He’s not, the very obvious question is: by what power or whose power is He doing it? To answer this He makes that reference to the strong man who is overcome by someone stronger.
3. In the text, the strong man is apparently Satan himself. The strong man in charge of his house is overcome by one who is stronger than himself and he is bound. The one that is stronger than Satan is none other than Jesus Christ.
4. I want you also, as we think about these things, to look with me at the 10th chapter of the gospel of Luke. Read along with me beginning at verse 17. There is something here that speaks of the reality and the purpose in the casting out of demons. At verse 17 beginning: Luke 10:17-20 – “Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.'' And He said to them, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. "Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. "Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.''”
5. In this reading the first thing that is observed is that power has been entrusted to the disciples and it has given them the ability, the power, to cast out devils. They came back and reported this to Jesus and He immediately said; “I beheld Satan fall”.
(i) A young man, under the influence of drink, stood on the outside of a crowd and boasted that he would make the open-air preacher stop preaching. He shouted: "Hey, Mister, you can go home; you needn't preach any more—the Devil's dead!" The preacher looked at the young man sternly, and replied: "The Devil's dead? Then you must be an orphan!" The youth hurried away abashed, while the crowd smiled broadly.
(ii) Does Jesus say Satan is dead? Not at all. Jesus indicates that the seventy, properly equipped disciples, had gone out and obeying Jesus they had been able to cast out devils.
6. What this casting out of the demons proved was that Satan’s power was on the wane. Jesus sees this as proof of Satan’s future defeat. In effect, the very thing that the scribes from Jerusalem were saying was proof that Jesus is possessed of a devil and He’s casting out devils. Jesus says such a thing is so ridiculous it makes no sense whatsoever. Anyone who thinks about it knows that... What it really proves is that Satan’s days are numbered.
III. A WARNING INCALCULABLY SERIOUS
A. Now I’d like us to look at; Mark 3:28-30 – “Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they may utter; "but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation because they said, and verse 30 is significant to what I’m going to say in just a minute, " because they said, He has an unclean spirit.” [NKJ] Jesus, in our lesson text, makes a very serious statement and gives this very serious warning.
B. Jesus knew that the hearts of the scribes were corrupt and embraced that which was actually contrary to God. So corrupt and so evil were their hearts that He uses this expression—blaspheme against the Holy Spirit.
1. The word “blaspheme” means; to rail against, to set oneself against in active and vocal mean-spirited opposition.
2. That was exactly what these scribes who had come from Jerusalem were doing. Jesus said that their hearts had led them into this action and that they are in danger of eternal damnation.
C. In the midst of all this Jesus said something wonderful about forgiveness.
1. In general He says all sins and blasphemies shall be forgiven with one exception.
2. You know, folks, as I think about that in my humanity and my frailness as a human being, that message is particularly helpful and hopeful for me.
3. I have to realize something about that message though, and that is this: that forgiveness hinges on repentance. If you look with me for just a minute at a couple of very familiar passages, one of them is Acts two verse 38. This passage, of course, is relevant to those people who are out of Christ. Here’s what it says: Acts 2:38 – “Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
4. Next look with me at chapter three and verse 19; Acts 3:19 – “Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord” [NKJ] What I want you to see here is the position of forgiveness relative to repentance. In both cases people are told they must repent in order to receive the forgiveness of sins. Jesus says all sins, and blasphemies can be forgiven the sons of men. Then scripture also goes further to say that forgiveness hinges on repentance.
5. Then in chapter eight of the book of Acts, relative to a man who is not what we would call an alien or not one who is out of Christ, but a man who has been baptized into Christ, Simon the sorcerer, and here’s what is said to him in verse 21. Acts 8:21-22 – “You have neither part nor portion in this matter, for your heart is not right in the sight of God. . "Repent therefore of this your wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you.” Forgiveness can be forthcoming, but his forgiveness hinges on his being penitent. While there is in this passage this marvelous assurance, and it is marvelous, we still have to keep in mind that repentance must precede forgiveness.
6. In the case of the people in Acts two and Acts three, there also needed to be baptism. There needed to be union into the death of Jesus Christ. There needed to be entrance into Christ. There needed to be cleansing by His blood. All that takes place in baptism. Prior to that, before there can be any forgiveness, any thought of forgiveness, there had to be repentance.
D. Then I wonder, what is this blasphemy against the Holy Spirit to which Jesus refers? Here is a question that has occupied the minds of the people for scores, perhaps hundreds, of years. What is this blasphemy against the Holy Spirit?
1. Today I will only make a kind of general observation about this. The observation that I make goes to something Jesus said in verse 30. Let’s read it again. Verse 30 has everything to do with verses 28 and 29. “Because they said, (these scribes that had come from Jerusalem) because they said, He hath an unclean spirit.”
2. The hearts of these scribes were so hard and so evil that they would accuse Jesus saying that the good that He was doing was of the power of Satan. That leads to this question. Could such people as these ever be touched by the gospel? Is that the key to the meaning of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit?
(i) Let me read just a couple of passages to you. One of these is in First Timothy chapter four and there at verses one and two. Here’s what the scripture says: 1 Timothy 4:1-2 - “Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron,” - It’s that last little expression that I want you to notice—a conscience seared with a hot iron. This is a conscience that has no feeling. In fact, the feeling has been burnt away. All of the nerves are gone and there is no feeling.
(ii) Now let’s look at this passage in the book of Hebrews at chapter six. There at verses four through six here’s what we read; Hebrews 6:4-6 – “For it is impossible for those who were once 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 age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame.”
3. The reason for my reading these two passages is to show us that there is apparently a situation which can develop in an individual’s life which will make it no longer possible to be touched by the gospel. In the two passages we’ve read, obviously, we’re reading of disciples who have left the faith, but here are situations nevertheless in which, number one, there is a violent denial and departure of the truth; and number two a blatant opposition to the truth both of which lead ultimately to an opposition to the very purpose for which Jesus came and a denial of that purpose.
4. The conclusion I reach then is this: yes, there may be a situation in which an individual’s heart becomes so hard that it not only rejects the gospel, but it rails against the gospel and its purpose. It sets itself in opposition to all that is holy and good and denies the very purpose for Jesus having come.
5. Just as an aside here: I wonder, can such a thing as this happens in the days in which we live? The answer here is “yes” as well. It can happen to Christian people, but there are even those people, much like I believe the scribes must have been, there are even those people who claim; “We are Christians.” Then they deny the inspiration of the scriptures. They deny the majority of things the New Testament says that Jesus did and said. They also claim He did and said things that are not in scripture.
6. These people have removed from the great gospel message its heart and soul. I would say to you that such people as these are in the very same category as those of whom Jesus said are in danger of eternal damnation. They are coming perilously close to blaspheming against the Holy Spirit if they have not already done so.
7. These are people scripture implies cannot be changed. It’s a hard message, but that’s very clearly the implication of the word of God. If these are people whose hearts cannot be changed then they cannot, therefore, repent and there can be no forgiveness. If they can’t change their hearts by the gospel, then there’s not going to be any forgiveness whether it’s the Mosaic Age or the Christian Age. It’s not going to happen because forgiveness necessitates repentance, and repentance obviously necessitates belief in God, belief in the Son of God, belief in the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ and so on. If you don’t believe in those things, folks, there’ll be no forgiveness. There can’t be.

CLOSE: You may be the enemy of Jesus Christ. That’s one thing, but to set yourself in opposition to Him by claiming that He is not who He claimed to be, by claiming that what He does He does by a power other than the power of God, that’s something else again. There are those, even now today, who will go so far as to say the most ridiculous kind of things to discredit Jesus Christ and His purpose for coming. Sadly, oh so sadly, there are those who will listen.

I wonder tonight, is it possible that there are some of us who might be listening to the voices that are denying Christ? Denying the inspiration of His word? Denying the church for which He died? Jesus Paid It All is the song that we’re about to sing. You see in scripture that Jesus had enemies and that they were so strident that they took Him to the cross and there, (unbeknownst to them, I’m sure), Jesus paid it all. It remains for you and me to choose to respond to the gift that He has made, what He’s offered is the gift of our salvation. To continue to reject the offer, folks, can ultimately take us away from Him forever, to an eternity with the devil.

Are there those here tonight needing to respond to the Lord’s precious invitation and be baptized into Christ? Don’t set yourself in the company of those who speak against Him, teach against Him, and act against Him. Be part of the fellowship of Christian people who are His body and spend eternity in heaven. Perhaps there are those who desire the prayers of faithful Christians on their behalf. If you have any need to come forward tonight, we invite you to do so now while we stand and while we sing.

Taken from sermon by
Cecil A. Hutson
05 November 2006