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branch, the produce of God's Spirit; and can any one doubt whether it be necessary for us to have the Spirit?-]

We cannot enjoy Christ

[We have not naturally any taste for spiritual enjoyments; we affect the things of time and sense, and those only-Indeed, how is it possible that we should enjoy him whom we do not know? Or how can his love be shed abroad in our hearts but by the Spirit? If any one think he can enjoy Christ by any power of his own, let him only make the experiment; let him retire to his closet for one hour, and say, "I will spend this hour in the enjoyment of Christ; I will delight myself in him with my whole heart;" let him make the attempt, and he shall soon be undeceived by the most convincing of all arguments, his own experience; nor are we afraid to rest the whole argument upon the issue of such a trial-Nor can we enjoy Christ hereafter any more than we can in this world, if we be not prepared for it by the Spirit of God-There is a "meetness for the inheritance of the saints in light" which we must have, before we could find comfort in the presence of our LordWhat pleasure could we take in him whom we do not at all resemble?"What communion could light have with darkness, or Christ with Belial?" We find that even now, when our corruptions are so restrained, one single hour is irksome, if spent in spiritual exercises; and we may be sure we cannot bear to be occupied without intermission to all eternity in those duties, for which we have no inclination, yea, from which we are most exceedingly averse

u

But let one asseveration of the. true and faithful witness stand in lieu of ten thousand arguments; Ye MUST be born again, says our Lord; and that, not of water only, but of the Spirit; or else ye can never enter into the kingdom of God-] We shall endeavour to IMPROVE this subject

1. By a general enquiry

[Have we the Spirit; or are we yet destitute of his gracious influences?-Some think this a needless enquiry, and one which cannot be satisfactorily resolved-But can we be "brought out of darkness into marvellous light," and be "turned from the power of Satan unto God," without knowing that we have experienced some change?-St. Paul supposes such ignorance to be inconsistent with saving conversion to God: he asks, "Know ye not that your bodies are the tem

‹ Rom. v. 5.

u 2 Cor. vi. 14, 15.

* John iii. 5—7.

ple of the Holy Ghost?" and again, "Know ye not how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?" Now here he not only declares that we are reprobates if we have not the Spirit of God, but considers this truth as known and acknowledged by all true Christians-Enquire then, Whether you have been enlightened, renewed and sanctified by the Spirit of God, and whether you are yet daily experiencing his powerful operations?-Let not this matter hang in suspense, lest you be found reprobates and sons of perdition, when you are fancying yourselves saints, and heirs of glory-]

2. By a particular address

[Let those, whose consciences testify that they have not the Spirit, stand convicted and condemned-The text speaks of all such without exception; "if any man," &c. Let it be remembered that, however cultivated our minds may be with human literature, and however amiable our natural dispositions, we must have the Spirit of Christ, or we can be none of his-And what a dreadful state is this? for if we be not Christ's, whose are we? It must be said to us, as our Lord said to the Jews, "Ye are of your Father, the devil"-And are any of us willing to be disclaimed by Jesus in the day of judgment? Would we that he should then say to us, "Ye are none of mine?"—If not, let us now seek his good Spirit, and live henceforth under his influence and direction

But let those, who have reason to believe that they have the Spirit, rejoice-They are Christ's: they are his friends; they are the very members of his body; they are "his portion, the lot of his inheritance"-O happy, happy souls, how highly privileged even now! and how unspeakably blessed in the future world!-Be not afraid then of the scoffs of an ungodly world; let them curse, if God do but bless-Improve your present privileges: be careful lest by any means ye "grieve the holy Spirit whereby ye are sealed:" look to him more and more to comfort and transform your souls; and expect with patience that blessed period, when Christ shall acknowledge you before the assembled universe, and number you among his jewels in the day that he shall count them up—]

y 1 Cor. vi. 19,

22 Cor. xiii. 5.

a Mal. iii. 17.

CCCXCI. THE SIN AGAINST THE HOLY GHOST.

Matt. xii. 31. 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 unțo men.

THE sins of men have, in all ages of the world, been the means and occasions of displaying the divine goodness. It is through the fall of the first Adam, and the crucifixion of Christ, the second Adam, that we attain the knowledge of God's mercy, and see how the exercise of it can consist with the rights of justice. The wickedness of the Pharisees, to whom the words of our text were addressed, was exceeding heinous: yet was it an occasion of manifesting the most unbounded compassion of our Lord. He had cast out a devil, and thereby not only conveyed a rich blessing to the person whom he had healed, but had given an irrefragable proof of his own divine mission. But the Pharisees, blinded by prejudice, imputed his miracle to a confederacy with the devil. Our Lord, instead of giving them up, as he might have justly done, to judicial blindness and impenitence, condescended meekly to reason with them on the subject, and then affectionately cautioned them against indulging so base a spirit; assuring them, that all which they had said and done against him might be forgiven; but that if they should persist in this conduct towards the Holy Spirit also, and reject his testimony, they would cut themselves off from all possibility of obtaining mercy.

Our Lord's address to them leads us to consider the extent of God's mercy; and shews us

I. To what it will not extend

It is of great importance to ascertain what is meant by the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost.

[Many have thought that the sin against the Holy Ghost consisted in ascribing the miracles of Jesus to the agency of Satan. But this opinion is founded on a misconstruction of a passage in St. Mark's Gospel. The Evangelist's observation, "Because they said, he hath an unclean spirit," was not intended to shew what the sin against the Holy Ghost was,

a Mark iii. 30.

but to specify what the occasion was, which called forth so awful an admonition. In that very place, the inspired writer contrasts the blasphemy against the Son of man, which the Pharisees now uttered, with the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, which they were in danger of uttering, when the Holy Ghost should be sent down from heaven: and he observes that the former might be forgiven; but that the latter could

not.

The sin against the Holy Ghost was the acting towards the Holy Spirit, as they now did towards Christ: it was, the resisting of all the evidences of Christianity, so as deliberately to pour contempt upon the truths revealed by the Holy Spirit; and, the ascribing of his miraculous powers, and gracious influences, to the agency of Satan.]

Why this sin in particular is excepted from the general offers of pardon, it is also of great importance to understand

[It is plainly declared to be unpardonable. But is not the mercy of God sufficiently extensive to cover this? Yes doubtless; for it is infinite, as all his perfections are. Is there not then a sufficiency in the blood of Christ to atone for this? Yes; his death is a sufficient propitiation for the sins of the whole world. Must we then refer it to the sovereign decree of heaven; and say, that God, in righteous judgment, has excepted this from the general proclamation of forgiveness? Perhaps this may be one reason: for St, John mentions " a sin unto death," for the forgiveness of which it is in vain to intercede,d But the more substantial reason is, that the sin itself, in the very nature of things, excludes a person from all hope of mercy. God has provided salvation for us through the blood of his Son, and the influences of his Spirit; and has told us that there

b Mark iii. 29. He does not say " hath blasphemed,” but “ shall blaspheme."

This cannot be made more plain, than by the following paraphrase of a very learned commentator, "You have represented me as a wine-bibber, a friend of publicans and sinners, and as one who casts out devils by Belzebub; and you will still go on, after all the miracles which I have done among you, to represent me as a false prophet, and a deceiver of the people: nevertheless all these griev◄ ous sins shall be forgiven you, if that last dispensation of the Holy Ghost which I shall after my ascension send among you, shall prevail with you to believe in me: but if, when I have sent the Holy Ghost to testify the truth of my mission, and of my resurrection, you shall continue in your unbelief, and shall blaspheme the Holy Ghost, and represent him also as an evil spirit, your sin shall never be forgiven, nor shall any thing further be done to call you to repentance." See Whitby's Dissertation on the subject.

d 1 John v. 16.

neither is, nor ever will be, any other way of salvation for sinful man. Now if we despise this salvation, and account it only a devilish delusion, what can be done? We must die, because we reject the only means of life. As a man who has taken a poisonous draught, may live, provided he apply a proper remedy, so may a man who has committed the most deadly sins be saved, if he embrace the gospel: but if he will not use the remedy provided, he must abide the consequences, and perish for ever. We must not however imagine, that every rejection of the gospel is unpardonable; for that, which is occasioned by an ignorance of its true nature, may be forgiven; but it then becomes unpardonable, when it is wilful and deliberate, against the convictions of our conscience, and the dictates of an enlightened judgment. It then argues a mind given up to its own delusions, and sealed up under final impenitence; and therefore it cannot be forgiven, because it will never be repented of.] There being no other limit to God's mercy, it is easy

to see

II. To what it will extend

This only excepted, every species and degree of sin may be forgiven. This blessed truth may be abundantly proved

1. From scripture examples

[If we look at sins committed before conversion, we shall see every species of enormity has been pardoned. What horrible uncleanness had the Corinthians been guilty of! yet they were washed, justified and sanctified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God Murders have in some instances been, not only committed, but multiplied: yet Manasseh, who, in addition to the most impious idolatries, had "filled the streets of Jerusalem with the blood of innocents," was pardoned. The persecuting of God's church and people also, though it is like the "piercing of the apple of God's eye," has been forgiven; yea, Saul, the most furious of all zealots, was stopped in the midst of his outrages, and transformed into a blessed apostle, in order that he might be an everlasting monument of the power and grace of Christ. To sum up all in one; the very murder of the Son of God himself has been forgiven; and thousands of those who cried out, " Crucify him, crucify him," were converted in answer to that petition of our Lord, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do."

We may extend our observation also to sins committed after

e 1 Tim. i. 13.

f 1 Cor. vi. 9—11.

2 Kings xxi. 16, with 2 Chron. xxiii. 9, 12, 13.

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