Dr. Robert Sumner passed away in December 2016. The Biblical Evangelist newspaper is no longer being published and the ministry of Biblical Evangelism has ceased operation.

The remaining inventory of his books and gospel tracts was transferred to The Baptist Tabernacle of Los Angeles and may be ordered here.

The Unforgiving God (Part 2 of 2)
Evangelist Robert L. Sumner

II. WHAT IS THE UNFORGIVABLE SIN?

Before we look at that, however, we probably should consider, because so many today deny it, saying it is ‘not for this age,’

A. Proof It CAN be Committed!

First, let me offer some proof from

1. God’s Word Book: Sacred Scripture!

Genesis 6:3: “And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.” There eventually comes an end to God’s striving with man.

John 12:38-40: “That the saying of Esaias the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, Lord, who hath believed our report? and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed? Therefore they could not believe, because that Esaias said again, He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them.” Here were people Isaiah told about who came to the place where their eyes were blinded and their heart hardened, and they could not believe!

Romans 1:24, 26, 28: “Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves … For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature … And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient.” Here are people that, because of rebellion and wicked sin God gave up. They did not want Him so He gave them up.

Hebrews 6:4, 6: “For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost … If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.” Here are people that it is, God says, ‘impossible’ to be saved, to be made partakers with God.

Hebrews 10: 26-31: “For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace? For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” Here are people who have sinned against God so willfully, so deliberately, that there is no more sacrifice for sins. Their case is unpardonable.

God gave up people in Noah’s day. He gave up people in Lot’s day. He gave up Pharaoh. He gave up Korah and others.

Not only is there proof of people coming to the place of unforgiveness from God’s inerrant Book, but from

2. God’s World Book: Nature!

Science tells us that if you would take a rope and tie your arm tightly to your body, leaving it in that condition long enough, refusing to use it, the time would come when you couldn’t use it. It would become useless. If you put a pirate’s patch firmly over one eye, not allowing any light to reach it and left it there long enough, you would become blind in that eye. It would be useless. The same is true of an ear if you placed a stopper firmly in one ear and left it there long enough, you would become deaf in that ear. You couldn’t hear anything in it.

The same is true in the spiritual realm. If you harden your heart against the gospel long enough, rejecting the gospel message, you will find less and less desire to accept it as time goes on. Too, sin hardens the heart and the longer one yields to it the harder the heart becomes. That is why so few white haired men and women come to Christ.

But not only does God’s Word Book and His World Book confirm our text, but there is also

3. God’s Witness Book: Experience!

I have seen this over and over in my seventy-plus years of ministry. Men who once trembled and feared when God’s Word was powerfully preached eventually come to the place where they can laugh and joke about their condition. Women who once had to hold on to the pew in front of them to stop shaking because of Holy Ghost conviction, eventually come to the place where they keep looking at their watches during the invitation, wondering when they can get out of church and go home and have Sunday dinner.

There is an old song our grandparents used to sing, written in 1847 by J. A. Alexander. I don’t know that it is sung in our churches any more. It goes like this:

“There is a time, I know not when,

    A place I know not where,

Which marks the destiny of men,

    To glory or despair.

“There is a line by us unseen,

    Which crosses every path,

The hidden boundary between

    God’s patience and God’s wrath.

“To cross that limit is to die,

    To die as if by stealth.

It may not pale the beaming eye,

    Nor quench the glowing health.

“The conscience may be still at ease,

    The spirits light and gay,

That which is pleasing still may please,

    And care be thrust away,

“But on that forehead God hath set

    Indelibly a mark

By man unseen, for man as yet

    Is blind and in the dark.

“And still that doomed man’s path below

    May bloom like Eden bloomed.

He did not, does not, will not know,

    Nor feel that he is doomed.

“He feels, he says, that all is well,

    His every fear is calmed.

He lives, he dies, he wakes in Hell,

    Not only doomed, but damned.

“Oh, where is that mysterious bourn,

    By which each path is crossed,

Beyond which God Himself has sworn

    That he who goes is lost?

“How long may men go on in sin?

    How long will God forbear?

Where does hope end, and where begin,

    The confines of despair?

“The answer from those skies is sent:

    ‘Ye who from God depart,

While it is called, Today, repent,

    And harden not your heart.’”

B. It Is a Final, Definite, Deliberate,

Fully Enlightened Rejection of His

Holy Spirit’s Pleas to Trust Christ

As Lord & Savior!

It is not merely saying ‘not tonight’ at the end of an evangelistic service. It is not merely another decision to go out in sin another time. It is probably best defined in the Bible like this: “For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame” (Hebrews 6:4-6).

On one occasion in Ohio a young couple were attending an evangelistic meeting. They sat in the back where they could smart off in response to the evangelist’s statements, making merry throughout the service. When it was over they got in their car and headed down the highway, still laughing at what they had heard. Driving at incredible speed the young man missed a curve, wrecked the car and both were killed instantly.

When the church people heard about the tragedy one lady said, “I remember them. They sat on the back row and joked all through the sermon. During the invitation the girl wrote something on the hymnbook, handed it to her date, and he had added something. I wonder what it was.”

They returned to the church, went to the section where the couple – one 18 and the other 19 – had been sitting and finally found the hymnbook with the writing on the page of the invitation hymn being sung. The evangelist had warned the congregation between verses, “The biggest gamble you will ever take is the one regarding your soul. If you turn Him down, you are taking a huge gamble that you will ever have another opportunity to be saved. Don’t do it!”

The girl had written, “Bill, I’ll take that chance tonight, will you?” And on the other side of the page he had scribbled, “Yes, with you, I’ll take that chance.”

They put the book down, walked out of the church building, and in a matter of minutes had been hurled into eternity unprepared to meet God. Oh, the folly of rejecting Christ as Lord and Savior.

My personal opinion is that one who makes a final, fully enlightened rejection of Christ does not live long after that decision is made. I think, for example, of Nabal, in I Samuel 25. A man of some means – 3,000 sheep and 1,000 goats – the Scripture says he was ‘churlish and evil in his doings’ even though he was of the house of Caleb, a very godly man and one of the two spies that had brought back a good report of the Promised Land. When David tried to be kind to him the only response was one of rebuff and rejection.

His wife Abigail tried to remedy the situation and when she told him what she had done in taking supplies to David and his men, the Word of God says – well, let’s quote that passage: “And Abigail came to Nabal; and, behold, he held a feast in his house, like the feast of a king; and Nabal's heart was merry within him, for he was very drunken: wherefore she told him nothing, less or more, until the morning light. But it came to pass in the morning, when the wine was gone out of Nabal, and his wife had told him these things, that his heart died within him, and he became as a stone. And it came to pass about ten days after, that the LORD smote Nabal, that he died” (Vss. 36-38). Note that after ‘his heart died within him,’ he only lived 10 more days.

But let’s get to the main part about this sin that is unforgivable.

III. WHO HAS COMMITTED THIS UNPARDONABLE SIN?

A. Dead Unbelievers for Sure!

One thing the Word of God makes very, very clear: there is no salvation after death. When one dies unconverted he or she is lost forever. It is ‘too late’ to be saved the moment a lost sinner dies. God’s time is always, ever NOW!  Second Corinthians 6:2 warns, “I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” The accepted time is now; during this life only.

Do you recall the rich man in Hell about whom Jesus spoke in Luke 16? The lost rich man pleaded with Abraham to send the saved homeless person who had begged at his gate in life with a wet finger to cool his tongue; Jesus made it clear: “But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.”

The Lord Jesus Christ made it clear that death settles destinies and that there is ‘a great gulf fixed’ – a permanent chasm between the two places that makes it impossible for an individual to go from one side to the other. As Dante put on the gate leading to Hell in his epic poem, ‘Divine Comedy,’ "Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate," translated by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, “All hope abandon, ye who enter here!” 

In short, once in, in forever!

B. Fully Enlightened Sinners PERHAPS Have Committed It!

Note the word ‘perhaps,’ which I have chosen deliberately. Neither I nor any other human has the wisdom or possibility about the condition of another, especially in this area. We have seen already that such a sin can be committed; who has done so is not in the realm of knowledge for a mere mortal. And by ‘fully enlightened’ we are simply referring to the ‘once enlightened’ of Hebrews 6:4. The word translated ‘once’ is the Greek hapax, literally meaning ‘once for all.’ It speaks of those who have ‘tasted of the heavenly gift,’ have been ‘made partakers of the Holy Ghost,’ have ‘tasted the good Word of God,’ have ‘tasted of the powers of the world to come,’ but lacked the essential ingredient of ‘faith.’[1]

Unreached tribes of Hottentots in the unexplored African jungles have obviously not committed it. By the same token, young people in America’s asphalt jungles who have never heard the Name of Christ other than in profanity, have not committed it.

The men to whom our Lord spoke these words regarding the unpardonable sin were men who knew their Bibles; were masters of the Old Testament Scripture; men who had seen His miracles; who had heard Him teach and preach; men who could easily fit the classification of ‘fully enlightened.’

Those committing this sin were men who knew all about biblical redemption, had weighed it clearly and carefully in their minds and hearts – then personally and deliberately rejected Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior! One under real and deep conviction would be the one most likely to commit it. Oh, do not, dare not, trifle with your soul.

I remember a Wisconsin man where I was in meetings with whom the godly pastor had witnessed repeatedly. The latter explained to me, “This man is one of the hardest men with whom I’ve ever talked. I’ve witnessed to him over and over and can’t get anywhere with him. I’d like to have you meet him and see if you can get through to him. His wife is a godly woman and a member of our church.”

I agreed, of course, and when we got there the pastor introduced us and the three of us sat down in the living room while the wife went into the kitchen to pray. The gentleman was already well up in years and I turned to John 3 and started explaining to him what the Word of God says about being born again. Right in the midst of my presentation, he stood up, left the room, entered the bathroom adjacent to where we were sitting, and started shaving! Defeated, we got up and left. He did not respond to our invitation to attend even one of the services at the church with his wife.

Shortly thereafter I received a letter from the pastor saying, “I think you will recall the elderly man we called on, Mr. J__ L____, who wasn’t sure whether he wanted to go to Heaven or Hell. Several days after you left, Mr. L____ dropped dead and, as far as I know – and as far as his wife knows – he did not confess Christ as his Savior.”

While I was not aware of it at the time, what a solemn responsibility it is to be the messenger from God making the final appeal to a man before he crossed the deadline and committed the unforgivable sin!

C. Important Note: Sinners Who

Want to Be Saved HAVE NOT

COMMITTED THE

UNPARDONABLE SIN!

The Word of God invites ‘whosoever will’ and ‘him that cometh’ to receive eternal life without the slightest suggestion that some might not be welcome. It is crystal clear that anyone who wants to be saved can be saved. There are no exceptions to this rule. None whatsoever!

Here is the point: one who has committed this awful sin does not want to be saved! As Jesus warned in John 6:44, “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.” One who has, as the old-timers put it, ‘crossed the deadline,’ will not be drawn by the Father. It would be, as Hebrews 6 warns, ‘impossible’ for him to be drawn.

I recall a 28-year-old man in Kansas City whom the pastor and I called upon in the hospital. We had tried to see him earlier in the week but he said he didn’t feel like talking so I gave him a copy of my salvation booklet, Heaven Can be Yours! and we had prayer and left. He was dying of leukemia and his doctors had decided that day not to give him any more blood, saying he would be dead within a week. His condition was very serious and we told him to give us a call when he felt like talking.

Later we received word making us think he had read the booklet and wanted to talk to us so we returned to the hospital. When we went in I quoted Romans 3:22, 23; Romans 5:8; then read Romans 10:13, showing him the latter verse in the Bible. I explained how much God loved him and how simple salvation was for anyone wanting to be saved. Then I asked if he wouldn’t like to be saved right then.

His response was a surly, “No, I don’t want to be saved. Why don’t you fellows get out of here and leave me alone. I want to sleep.” I explained again how important it was to be saved and how dangerous it was to face death without a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. I added that he could be saved after we left if he would only trust the Lord Jesus and call upon him. I had prayer and we left. As far as I know, Jesse B____ died in rebellion to God and entered Hell to spend eternity. He had not the slightest interest in being saved.

But one who does have even the slightest interest in salvation can be saved. That interest is put there by the Holy Spirit of God. He is convicting you of your need. If you had passed the deadline He would not be convicting you and you would not have even the tiniest amount of interest.

My friend, if He is convicting you (that is, drawing you), you can be saved. Revelation 22:17 puts it like this: “And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.”

Conclusion

If you have never been saved and have the slightest desire to be saved, I beg of you to settle the matter immediately. There are twin terrors that make it vitally important to trust Christ now.

One is the fact of death. Hebrews 9:27 reminds us, “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.” You, and I, and everyone else have an appointment with death. When will it arrive? That secret is locked in the bosom of God. You don’t know your scheduled time. I don’t know mine. The important thing is to be ready for it because if it comes and we are not saved, it means eternity in Hell without any hope whatsoever.

The other terror is the one we have been talking about, the unpardonable sin. As God said to the Israelites centuries ago, “Ephraim is joined to idols: let him alone” (Hosea 7:14). What solemn, frightening words: ‘let him alone.’ If God says that to His Holy Spirit about you, all opportunity to be saved will be gone forever.

As for death, do you say, “I won’t die for a long time”? Perhaps you won’t, but you could commit the unpardonable sin today.

Do you say, “I won’t commit that sin. I’m not ‘enlightened’ enough”? Perhaps not, but you could die, no matter your age, before this day is done.

My friend, the late Lee Roberson – who had such an outstanding voice he was encouraged as a young man to make a career in opera – was leading the singing in a crusade early in his ministry for Dr. Burke Culpepper. One night the latter told of a tent meeting he was conducting when God was wonderfully blessing and many were being saved. It seems that during one service a large group of young people came into the tent and filled the seats in the back. They were laughing and joking and one young woman in particular seemed to be the leader.

When Dr. Culpepper stood to preach they listened for a while, but when he started talking about Heaven and Hell they began to laugh. He talked about the cross and they laughed. He talked about the blood of Christ and they laughed. When he gave the invitation no one responded; the laughter of the young people had killed the service.

After the benediction was pronounced the evangelist took his Bible and went to the rear of the tent. He asked the young woman about her soul and she laughed in his face. “Why, no one believes in that old-fashioned stuff anymore,” she sneered. He tried to reason with her, but was getting nowhere. The young people walked out and the girl said, “Tah, tah, Dr. Culpepper. I’ll see you tomorrow night.”

He went to his hotel room and got down on his knees. He prayed that the girl would not come back the next night. He wanted her to be saved, but he did not want her to ruin another service, keeping others from trusting Christ.

Dr. Culpepper told my friend and the others, “I did not have to worry about the girl returning. The next morning she drove her car into a tree on one of the leading avenues of the city and was killed instantly.” He said that the next day he went to her home and a servant admitted him. He was taken into a large room where the casket was and looked down at her face. She had laughed at his meeting and laughed at his message. He said that when he looked at her the words rushed to his mind, “Tah, tah, Dr. Culpepper. I’ll see you tomorrow night.” But she didn’t; she was dead.

Had she committed the unpardonable sin, the one for which there is no forgiveness? I do not know, but she was dead and now there would be no forgiveness, ‘neither in this world, neither in the world to come.’

Oh, do not trifle with such a serious matter as your soul’s eternal destiny. Acts 10:43 says, “To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.” And Revelation 3:20 insists, “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” You can be saved if you want to be saved. I refer you again to the final invitation in the Word of God, “The Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.”

Will you come?

When William McKinley was running for president there were no modern conveniences by which he could reach the masses with his message. Like all other candidates of the time he chartered a special train and went across the country, stopping at major cities and a few minor hamlets to address the crowds that gathered to hear him.

There was a small town in Illinois that wanted him to stop and address their people, but his advisors felt it would not be worth the time. The local citizens repeated their request several times, even sending a delegation to plead with him, but to no avail. Finally they hung a flag across the tracks and sent his committee a telegram saying, “We have hung Old Glory across the tracks and if you don’t stop, you’ll have to run over her.” When the train got to the town those on board saw the flag; they knew they could not run over it, so the train was stopped and Mr. McKinley addressed the people.

Do you remember what we quoted from Hebrews 10:29? “Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?” That is the unpardonable sin.

God has made many appeals to you to come to Him. You have refused again and again. Now He says to you, “I’ve hung my Son on a cross on the road to Hell. If you trample on Him on your way to damnation there is nothing else I can do. Hell will be your destiny, never to escape throughout the ages to come.”

Don’t make that fatal mistake. Don’t trample under foot the Son of God.

Decision for Christ

Dr. Robert L. Sumner

5717 Pine Drive

Raleigh, NC 27606

Dear Brother Sumner:

I have read your sermon, “The Unforgiving God.” I do not want to wait for either death or this sin to hurl me into Hell. I understand that the Lord Jesus Christ left Heaven and came to earth to die on the cross, rising from the grave three days and three nights later, to provide a perfect redemption for me.

This very moment I want to trust Him for salvation. How wonderful that He promised, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:13). Right now, in my heart, I ask Him to forgive me of all my sin and make me His dear child. I trust Him to take me to Heaven when I die. The best I know how, this moment I repent of my sins and ask His forgiveness. I trust Him to do it.

I want to live for Him and follow Him the rest of my life. Kindly send me a letter of counsel to encourage me in this decision and to instruct me in living for Christ.

(Signed) ________________

Address: ________________

________________________