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THE SIN AGAINST THE HOLY GHOST
THE sins of men have, in all the 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 correctly 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 [Note: Mar_3:30.].” 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, 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 [Note: Mar_3:28-29. compared with the words following my text. Observe, he does not say “hath blasphemed,” but “shall blaspheme.”]: 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 [Note: This cannot be made more plain, than by the following paraphrase of a learned commentator: ‘You have represented me as a wine-bibber, a friend of publicans and sinners, and as one who casts out devils by Beelzebub; and you will still go on, after all the miracles which I have wrought among you, to represent me as a false prophet, and a deceiver of the people: nevertheless all these grievous sins shall be forgiven you, if that last dispensation of the Holy Ghost, which I, after my ascension, shall send among you, shall prevail with you to believe in me: but if, when I have sent the Holy Ghost to testily 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.].”[
Why this sin in particular is excepted from the general offers of ardon, 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 [Note: 1Jn_5:16.]. 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 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 a man who has committed the most deadly sins may nevertheless be saved at last, if he truly embrace the Gospel of Christ: but if he will not use the remedy provided for him, 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 [Note: 1Ti_1:13.]; 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 that 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 [Note: 1Co_6:9-11.]. 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 [Note: 2Ki_21:16. with 2Ch_33:9; 2Ch_33:12-13.]. 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 [Note: 1Ti_1:16.]. 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 conversion. Who can contemplate without horror the conduct of David; who, though an eminent professor and patron of religion, defiled the wife of his faithful subject, and, in order to conceal his crime, laid a plot to destroy him? Consider him, I say, murdering this man who was exposing his life continually for his sake, murdering also a multitude of other persons together with him, involving another person in the guilt of all these murders as his instrument and accomplice, and making the very man, whose death he was contriving, the bearer of that letter, which was devoting him to destruction: consider him moreover, when he had accomplished his purpose, blasphemously ascribing the death of all these persons to God [Note: 2Sa_11:25.], then instantly taking the adulterous Bathsheba to live with him as his wife; and, after all, living at least nine months in utter impenitence, as though he had committed no crime at all!! In an ignorant heathen, such conduct would have been inexpressibly vile; but in a saint of God, the man after God’s own heart—who would conceive it possible? To believe that such iniquity was ever committed, seems almost a libel upon human nature. Yet even this, surpassing as it does almost the bounds of credibility, was forgiven, and that too, upon the very first motion of penitence in David’s heart [Note: 2Sa_12:13.]. Peter’s sin, if viewed in all its aggravations, was scarcely less than this: yet, even while he was committing it, our Lord looked on him with pity and compassion; and afterwards thrice repeated the commission, which restored him openly to his apostleship [Note: Joh_21:15-17.].”]
2. From Scripture declarations—
[Consult we the Prophets? They speak strongly on this point, declaring that we are redeemed from all sins, even those of a scarlet or crimson die [Note: Isa_1:18.]. Ask we of the Apostles? They speak in terms of similar import [Note: 1Jn_1:7; 1Jn_2:1-2.], and contrast the Gospel with the law in this particular; that whereas there were some sins, for which there was no sacrifice appointed under the law of Moses, there is no iniquity whatever from which we may not be justified by the Gospel of Christ [Note: Act_13:38-39.]. If we attend to the voice of Christ himself, we shall find him no less explicit: he assures us that whosoever believeth in him shall never die, shall never be cast out [Note: Joh_11:26; Joh_6:37.]. Thus universally do the Scriptures testify, that “all manner of sin,” yea, even the most horrid “blasphemies wherewith any man can blaspheme,” (except the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost) “shall be forgiven unto men.”
It must however be remembered, that these declarations suppose that we repent and believe the Gospel; for, without repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus, no sin whatever can be pardoned.]
Before we close, it will be proper to add,
1. A word of admonition—
[We hope and trust that there are not any in this day, who are guilty of the sin, which is here declared unpardonable: but many who scoff at religion, and deride the influences of the Spirit, may be much nearer to the commission of it than they imagine. It will be well for all such persons to pause, and consider on what a precipice they stand — — — for they may do despite to the Spirit of grace till they have quenched his sacred motions, and provoked him to abandon them to their own delusions. The Lord grant that none of us may bring down on ourselves such a tremendous judgment!]
2. A word of consolation—
[Some are tempted to think that they have committed the unpardonable sin: but if it be true, that the commission of it is always attended with judicial blindness, and followed by final impenitence, then no one can have committed it, who is apprehensive that he has been guilty of it: because, instead of indulging such fears, he would go on glorying in his shame, and hardening himself in his iniquities. Let all such apprehensions then be put away; and let that other declaration of the text abide upon our minds for our comfort and encouragement under all the accusations of a guilty conscience [Note: Psa_130:7-8.] — — — O let all of us avail ourselves of this gracious declaration, whilst yet the proffered mercy lies within our reach — — —]