Untitled article by James White

The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Third-day, August 20, 1867

THE SIN AGAINST THE HOLY SPIRIT.

By James White

“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.” Matt. xii, 31, 32.

Despair, which I have myself felt keenly, is usually the result of believing and feeling that one has committed the sin which hath no forgiveness. Such persons I think are all mistaken. At least many of them are, as each will point you to a distinct sin, differing from that of the others. But as the text teaches that there is but one such sin, those only who commit this sin have good cause to despair. That all such despairing, fearing, trembling souls are mistaken, I judge from the fact that the Bible represents the careless as on the way to certain ruin, while it lavishes promised blessings upon those who tremble at the word of God and fear that they will fail of everlasting rest. For examples, see the boasting Pharisee, and the repenting Publican who dare not even raise his eyes to heaven. He smote his own breast and prayed, God be merciful to me a sinner. Again, those that are really lost, feel not the strivings of God’s Spirit, but lay at ease in the arms of Satan. Those for whom there is hope have the care of good angels, and the Spirit strives with them. Satan strives for them, hence the person feels the collision of spirits, causing a great variety of feelings, one of which is despondency. The time will come when the lost will feel their condition; but I think no such one feels it now; hence all those persons with large conscientiousness and small hope, who feel that they are lost, are only imposed upon by Satan. They may have committed sin and in despair have given up the Sabbath. But they hear the evidences again, and feel deeply and weep over their condition; but feel that it is no use for them to try again to keep all the commandments of God. To such I would say, You have not committed that sin. You are all feeling. Those guilty of this sin are as unfeeling as the stones in the bottom of the ocean. Take hold of the truth again. And to all who are in despair let me address you in the language of the apostle, and the assurance of my own soul, “Resist the Devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you.”

But what is the unpardonable sin? If I can give a distinct answer, the reader can know whether or not he has committed it. Mark the following points:

1. There is but one sin of this kind in the reach of sinners. The following expressions in the text prove this: “All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost. He that speaketh against the Holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven him.” A man may break each of the ten commandments, yet not commit the sin which hath no forgiveness. Without repentance and faith he must be lost. With these he may be saved.

2. Murder is considered the highest crime. The law of our country punishes it with the severest penalty. The Sabbath commandment may be greater than the precept, “Thou shalt not kill.” But when we take into the account the education and views of the American people relative to these two precepts, the decision must be that murder is the highest crime.

When the Lord said, “All manner of sin,” he must have included murder. Thank God, that by the precious blood of his dear Son, even the crimson stains of this terrible crime may be washed away. Despair not, dear, fainting brother. Your deep feelings have nearly driven you to insanity, and have almost unfitted you to reason calmly. God knows this, and by his prophet calls upon you in the following touching language, “Come now and let us reason together. Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” Isa. i, 18.

3. Sin cannot be committed against that of which men have no knowledge. Those who have no knowledge of God do not sin against him. Where there is no law, consequently no knowledge of the Lawgiver, there is no transgression. Hence those who know nothing of the Holy Spirit, have never felt its power or seen its influence upon others, have not sinned against it.

4. Those who feel its influence to a degree, but do not yield complete obedience so as to enjoy its fullness; though they may have seen its influence upon others, but have hesitated, neither confessing the work of God nor rejecting it, do not commit this sin. They may by their extreme caution, and fear to commit themselves, even “quench the Spirit;” yet that grieved Spirit lingers and strives. Such do not commit the sin against the Holy Ghost.

5. But he who has knowledge of it, feels it and sees its influence upon others, and professes the work to be of God, then denies it and rashly says it is the work and power of the Devil, commits the sin which hath no pardon. Attributing the work of the Holy Spirit to Beelzebub was this sin in the days of Christ. It is the same now. This is very apparent from the fact that in close connection with my text is the following:

“And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand. And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself. How shall then his kingdom stand? And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? therefore they shall be your judges. But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you.” Verses 25-28.

Here are the historical facts, eighteen centuries old. The text declaring that there is but one such sin, and pointing that sin out, is the conclusion given as a warning to the rash and the comfort of the trembling, till the close of time. A word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven, but a word against the Holy Spirit, never.

When a boy I listened with great interest to the relation by my father of the words of an aged servant of God as he was laboring to lift from the mire of despair some doubting souls who concluded from their bad feelings that there was no mercy for them. They doubted because they felt bad, and felt bad because they doubted. Oh! how cruel the Devil is to harness bad feelings up with doubts, and fasten them upon the mind, and set them running with lightning speed to hurl conscientious souls down the precipice of despair.

But to return to the relation. Said the minister: “But few persons have committed the unpardonable sin. In the so-called religious wars of the past, when an infidel led on his army against a professedly Christian nation, he was overcome and fell in battle. A ball entered his breast. The blood poured out in a stream. He caught his hands full of it, and in insult to the Son said, as he threw it toward heaven, ‘Thou hast overcome me, thou Nazarene!’ This man committed the sin which hath no forgiveness.”

That this General found no pardon we believe, first, because he had no time to seek for it; and, secondly, he had no disposition to seek pardon. But the last words he spoke were not against the Holy Ghost, they were against the Son. If that heaven-daring sinner had not before committed the sin unto death, and if he had had time and a disposition to repent, he could then have found mercy, even after he had flung the crimson current from his own veins into the face of the Son of God. All manner of sins shall be forgiven save one.

I close by saying, I present this subject to help the desponding, and as a warning to the rash whose hope ever rushes them forward, and whose conscientiousness, of which they have none too much, never blocks the wheel. Dear reader, the way to life is narrow; but the door of hope opened through the death of Christ into this narrow way, is as wide as the world. The love and pity of Christ is exalted as high as all your sins, piled one upon the other. The remedy will search and cure to the very depths of all your crimes, if you are not guilty of the one sin. Christ came not to call the righteous to repentance; but to call and save just such repenting, despairing sinners as you are. You feel unworthy. Then look away from unworthy self to Christ, and be lost in the

worthiness of the Lamb. The hypocrite and the deceived plead their own worthiness, and thank God that they are better than other men, while the humble plead for pardon, and as faint hope revives, exalt the Lamb. The secret, if not the out-spoken sentiment, of their soul is,

“Worthy, worthy is the Lamb, That once was slain.”

To those in particular who have turned away from the present truth, and in consequence are desponding or in despair, I would say, “Repent of your transgressions, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and be baptized, washing away your sins, that you may walk here in newness of life and hereafter share ever that life which is perennial.” JAMES WHITE. Greenville, July 6, 1867.