Speaking against the Holy Ghoft; wherein the nature of this fin, of blafphemy against the Holy Ghoft, does confift; and in what fenfe this fin is faid to be unpardonable; and upon what account it is fo, namely, because men by this fin refift their laft remedy, and oppofe the best and utmost means of their conviction; and because it may reasonably be fuppofed, that, upon a provocation of this high nature, God may, and is refolved to withdraw that grace from fuch perfons which is necessary to their repentance, without which their fin remains for ever unpardonable. All that now remains is, to make this difcourfe fome way or other useful to ourselves. And it may very well ferve to these two purposes. 1. To comfort fome very good and pious perfons, who are liable to despair, out of an apprehenfion that they have committed this fin. 2. To caution others against the approaches to it. 1. To comfort fome very good and pious perfons, who are liable to despair, upon an apprehenfion that they have committed this great and unpardonable fin; and confequently are utterly incapable of ever being restored to the mercy and favour of God. And nothing can be more for the comfort of such persons, than to understand aright what the nature of this fin is, and wherein the heinousness of it doth confift: which I have endeavoured to manifeft. And if this be the nature of it which I have declared, as it feems very plain that it is, then I cannot fee how any perfon now is likely to be in thofe circumftances as to be capable of committing it. And being a fin of fo heinous a nature, and declared by our Saviour to be abfolutely unpardonable, there is no reafon to extend it beyond the cafe to which our Saviour applies it; which was, the refifting of the evidence of the miracles which were wrought for the truth of Christianity by those who were eye-witneffes of them; that is, by those who had the utmost affurance of them that human nature is capable of and not only a bare refistance of that evidence, but with a very malicious circumftance, fo as to impute thofe works which were wrought by the Holy. Ghoft, to the power of the devil. This was the cafe of the Pharifees, whom our Saviour chargeth with this fin. And no body hath warrant to extend this fin any farther than 299 than this cafe and without good warrant, it would be the most uncharitable thing in the world to extend it farther. That which comes nearest to it, both in the heinoufnefs of the crime, and the unpardonablenefs of it, is total apoftacy from Christianity, after the embracing of it, and full conviction of the truth of it. And this the scripfure feems to place, if not in the fame rank, yet very near to it. And of this the apostle speaks very often in the epistle to the Hebrews, under the name of unbelief, and fin, by way of eminence, as being the great fin that Chriftians were in danger of falling into, called in that epiftle (Heb. xii. 1.) évrepisalos auaplía, the fin which Chriftians, by reafon of the circumstances they were then in, were especially fubject to: and he parallels it with the cafe of the Jews in the wilderness, concerning whom God fware that they should not enter into his reft, namely, the earthly Canaan, which was a type of heaven, chap. iii. 18. and chap. vi. 4. 5. 6. more exprefsly: For it is impoffible for those who were once enlightened, and have tafted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghoft, and have tafted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, if they should fall away, to renew them again to repentance; where, by impoffible, the leaft that can be meant is, that it is extremely difficult for fuch perfons to recover themselves by repentance. And it is obfervable, that those persons are faid to have been partakers of the Holy Ghoft; by which is meant, that they were endued with a power of miracles by the Holy Ghost, or were under the conviction of them, as having feen them wrought by others. So that this apoftafy may be faid in that refpect to be a fin against the Holy Ghoft. So likewife, ch. x. 26. If we fin wilfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, (that is, if we apoftatife from Christianity after we have embraced the profeffion of it, as appears plainly from the scope of the apostle's difcourfe), there remains no more facrifice for fin; which expreffion declares this fin either to be unpardonable, or fomething very like it. And, at the 29th verfe, thofe perfons are faid to tread under foot the Son of God, and to do defpite unto the Spirit of grace; which fignifies, that the fin there fpoken of is more immediately committed against the Holy Spirit of God. St St Peter likewife declares the great danger of this fin, 2 Pet. ii. 20. If, after they have efcaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jefus Chrift, they are again intangled therein, and overcome; the latter end is worfe with them than the begin ning. St John likewife feems to speak of this fin of apoftafy, and to call it a fin unto death; difcouraging Chriftians rather from praying for those who were fallen into it; which gives great fufpicion, that he looked upon it as hardly pardonable: 1 John v. 16. If any man fee his brother fin a fin not unto death, he shall afk, and be fhall give him life for those that fin not unto death. There is a fin unto death; I do not fay that he shall pray for it. Now, that by the fin unto death, the Apostle here means apoftafy from the Chriftian religion to the Heathen idolatry, feems extremely probable from what follows, ver. 18. We know that whofoever is born of God, fineth not; but keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not; that is, he preferveth himself from idola try, which the devil had feduced the world into: ver. 19. And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness, iv 1 rompe, in the wicked one; that is, under the power of the devil: And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us understanding to know him that is true; that is, to diftinguish between the true God and idols. And then it follows, This is the true God, and eternal life. Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Which laft caution is a key to the under standing of all the reft; and makes it very probable, that the fin unto death is apostasy from Christianity unto idolatry: otherwife it is hard to imagine, how the laft claufe comes in, Little children, keep yourselves from idols. And this is that fin which of all others approacheth nearest to this fin against the Holy Ghoft which our Saviour speaks of, and concerning the pardonableness of which the fcripture feems to speak very doubtfully. But if it it were of the fame unpardonable nature, yet this can be no trouble to those perfons I am fpeaking of, who cannot but know themselves to be far enough from the guilt of this fin. As for thofe other fins which by fome are taken to be the fins against the Holy Ghoft, they are either fuch as perhaps perhaps no man is capable of committing, as a malicious oppofition to the truth, when I am convinced and know it to be the truth: for this feems to be a contradiction, to know any thing to be the truth, and to believe it to be fo, and yet to oppofe it; because the understanding can no more oppofe truth as truth, than the will can refufe good as good or elfe, they are fuch as no man can know he is guilty of in this life; as final impenitency, which fuppofeth a man to live and die without repentance or elfe fuch as I think no good man is incident to; as a malicious and perverfe oppofing of the truth after fufficient means of conviction. However, none of these are that which the fcripture defcribes to be the fin against the Holy Ghost; as I have already fhewn. But ftill there are two things which ufually trouble honeft and well meaning perfons; but are rather the effects of melancholy than any reasonable ground of trouble. Some think that every deliberate fin against knowledge, and after conviction, is the fin against the Holy Ghoft. This is acknowledged to be a very great aggravation of fin, and fuch as calls for a great and particular repentance; but does by no means render a man incapable of forgiveness. Others are troubled with blafphemous thoughts; and thofe they think to be the fin against the Holy Ghoft. But this is generally the mere effect of melancholy; and the perfons that are troubled with these black thoughts, are nowife confenting to them; but they rife in their minds perfectly against their wills, and without any approbation of theirs and in this cafe they are fo far from being the unpardonable fin, that I hope, yea and verily believe, they are no fins at all, but the mere effects of a bodily diftemper; and no more imputed to us, than the wild and idle ravings of a man in a frenzy or a fever. And God forbid that the natural effects of a bodily difeafe fhould bring guilt upon our fouls. So that these perfons have reafon enough for comfort; but the mifery is, their prefent dillemper renders them incapable of it. 2. The other ufe I would make of this difcourfe is, to caution men against the degrees and approaches of this fin. For if the fin against the Holy Ghost be of fuch a high nature, and fo unpardonable, then all approaches to VOL. I. C&C it it are very dreadful: fuch as are, profane fcoffing at religion, and the Holy Spirit of God which dwells in good men; abufe of the holy fcriptures, which were indited by the Spirit of God; perverfe infidelity, notwithstanding all the evidence which we have for the truth of Chrifianity, and fufficient affurance of the miracles wrought for the confirmation of it, brought down to us by credible hiftory, though we were not eye-witneffes of them; obftinacy in a finful and vitious courfe, notwithstanding all the motives and arguments of the gofpel to perfuade men to repentance; finning against the clear conviction of our confciences, and the motions and fuggeftions of God's Holy Spirit to the contrary; malicious oppofing of the truth, when the arguments for it are very plain and evident to any impartial and unprejudiced mind, and when he that oppofeth the truth hath no clear fatisfaction in his own mind to the contrary, but fuffers himself to be furioufly and headily carried on in his oppofition to it. Thefe are all fins of a very high nature, and of the neareft affinity with this great and unpardonable fin, of any that can eafly be inftanced in. And though God, to encourage the "repentance of men, has not declared them unpardonable; yet they are great provocations; and if they be long continued in, we know not how foon God may withdraw his grace from us, and fuffer us to be hardened through the deceitfulness of fin. Be ready then to entertain the truth of God, whenever it is fairly propounded to thee, and with fuch evidence as thou art willing to accept in other matters, where thou haft no prejudice nor intereft to the contrary. Do nothing contrary to thy known duty; but be careful in all things to obey the convictions of thine own confcience, and to yield to the good motions and fuggeftions of God's Holy Spirit, who works fecretly upon the minds of men, and infpires us many times gently with good thoughts and inclinations, and is grieved when we do not comply with them, and, after many repulfes, will at last with draw himself from us, and leave us to be affaulted by the temptations of the devil, and to be hurried away bŷ our own lufts into ruin and perdition. SER |