GENERAL ARTICLES
spirit.” Note that Jesus stated to them
that they had blasphemed against the
Holy Spirit, “Because they said, He
hath an unclean spirit.”
Then for a man to say that the Spirit
of God is the spirit of the devil — thus
to call the truth a lie and a lie the truth
— and to do this after knowing the
truth, is to commit
THE UNPARDONABLE SIN.
The philosophy of the unpardonable
sin is perfectly simple and plain.
The Spirit of God is the only means
by which we may know sin. It is true
that by the law is the knowledge of sin.
But the law is spiritual, the law is empty
and powerless without the spirit, and the
Holy Spirit brings the law before the
heart and conscience and reproves (con-
vinces) every man of sin, and also of
righteousness. John 16:8-10. “And
when he is come, he will reprove the
world of sin, and of righteousness, and
of judgment: of sin, because they be-
lieve not on me; of righteousness, be-
cause I go to my Father, and ye see
me no more.”
Then he who has persistently resisted
the Holy Spirit until he comes no more,
until his
VOICE IS NO LONGER HEARD
speaking to soul and conscience can not
know what sin is or repent of it, and of -
course for that reason can never be for-
given, For the Holy Spirit is Christ’s
representative on earth, the connecting
link between God and man. He who
drives away from him the Holy Spirit,
cuts off the connection between himself
and God.
If a man were suspended by a cord,
and should himself
CUT THE CORD
that bound him to life and safety, we
should describe his act .as suicide. He
745
who has finally grieved away the Spirit
of God has committed spiritual suicide.
We quote the words of a well-known
writer :—
Christ told them plainly that in attributing
the work of the Holy Spirit to Satan, they
were cutting themselves off from the foun-
tain of blessing. Those who had spoken
against Jesus himself, not discerning his di-
vine character, might receive forgiveness; for
through the Holy Spirit they might be brought
to see their errors and repent. Whatever the
sin, if the soul repents and believes, the guilt
1s washed away in the blood of Christ; but
he who rejects the work of the Holy Spirit
is placing himself where repentance and faith
can not come to him.
IT IS BY THE SPIRIT
that God works upon the heart; when men wil-
fully reject the Spirit, and declare it to be
from Satan, they cut off the channel by which
God can communicate with them. When the
Spirit is finally rejected, there is no more that
God can do for the soul.
The Pharisees to whom Jesus spoke this
warning did not themselves believe the charge
they brought against him. ‘There was not
one of those dignitaries but had felt drawn
toward the Saviour. They had heard the
SPIRIT’S VOICE
in their own hearts urging them to confess
themselves his disciples. In the light of his
presence they had realized their unholiness,
and had longed for a righteousness which they
could not create. But after their rejection of
him it would be too humiliating to receive
him as the Messiah. Having set their feet
in the path of unbelief, they were too proud
to confess their error. And in order to avoid
acknowledging the truth, they tried with des-
perate violence to dispute the Saviour’s teach-
ing. ‘The evidence of his
POWER AND MERCY
exasperated them. They could not prevent
the Saviour from working miracles, they could
not silence his teaching; but they did every-
thing in their power to misrepresent him and
to falsify his words. Still the convicting
Spirit of God followed them, and they had
to build up mighty barriers in order to with-
stand its power. The mightiest agency that
can be brought to bear upon the human heart