house, and spoil his goods,
except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house.
He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with
me, scattereth abroad. Wherefore I say unto you, all manner of sin and
blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men; but the blasphemy against the
Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. And whosoever speaketh a
word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him; but whosoever
speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither
in this world, neither in the world to come." That is Matthew's
account. Now let us read Mark's account in chapter iii, 21, etc.:

"And when His friends heard of it, they went out to lay hold on Him,
for they said: He (that is Christ) is beside Himself. And the scribes
which came down from Jerusalem said, He hath Beelzebub, and by the
prince of the devils casteth He out devils."

The word Beelzebub means the Lord of Filth. They charged the Lord
Jesus with being possessed not only with an evil spirit, but with a
filthy spirit.

"And He called them unto Him, and said unto them in parables, How can
Satan cast out Satan? And if a kingdom be divided against itself, that
kingdom can not stand. And if a house be divided against itself, that
house can not stand. And if Satan rise up against himself, and be
divided, he can not stand, but hath an end. No man can enter into a
strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the
strong man; and then he will spoil his house. Verily I say unto you,
all sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies
wherewith soever they shall blaspheme: But he that shall blaspheme
against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of
eternal damnation."

Now, if it stopped there, we would be left perhaps in darkness, and we
would not exactly understand what the sin against the Holy Ghost is;
but the next verse of this same chapter of Mark just throws light upon
the whole matter, and we need not be in darkness another minute if we
really want light; for observe, the verse reads: "Because they said,
He hath an unclean spirit."

Now, I have met a good many atheists and skeptics and deists and
infidels, both in this country and abroad, but I never in my life met
a man or woman who ever said that Jesus Christ was possessed of an
unclean devil. Did you? I don't think you ever met such a person. I
have heard men say bitter things against Christ, but I