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played his ability and grace in pardoning some of the most notorious offenders. He recovered the woman of Samaria from an infamous life; made Zaccheus, the extortioner, both just and charitable; melted the heart of the expiring thief; subdued the enmity of Saul the persecutor; and washed his own murderers in "the fountain" which he had "opened for sin and uncleanness." These, however, were the earnests only of those magnificent displays of infinite goodness which afterwards attended the labours of the Apostles, when multitudes of sinners, in almost every region, received the tidings of Divine mercy, obtained the pardon of their sins, and "rejoiced in hope of the glory of God."

But there is one sin, which, as we have already observed, Jesus Christ himself has. pronounced unpardonable. "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.

* Matthew, xii. 31, 32.

As truly pious persons are sometimes greatly distressed with the apprehension of having committed this dreadful sin, a few remarks on its nature may not be altogether unacceptable.

Some of this class have imagined that sin to consist in blasphemous thoughts; were such thoughts encouraged and fostered, they would, undoubtedly, bear some relation to it. But such thoughts arise in the renewed mind involuntarily; and from whatsoever cause they may proceed, whether from the depths of inward depravity, or from the agency of evil spirits, they are abhorrent from all the allowed feelings of the sincere Christian, in which case we cannot imagine that he who succours the tempted, will lay to their charge that sin from which they habitually turn away with disgust and horror.

Others are of opinion, that it consists in apostasy, and suppose it to be fully described in Hebrews, vi. 4-6. But, though apostasy is a most flagrant and dangerous sin, which, if persisted in, will be recompensed with the most signal punishment, there is no evidence that it is the sin here declared to be unpardonable. The words, (in the passage referred to,) "It is impossible for those who were once enlightened if they shall fall away, to renew them again to repentance," appear to favour the

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belief that apostasy is an unpardonable sin; but the impossibility is not to be taken without limitation, any more than that of the salvation of the rich man, recorded in Mark, x. 25. The recovery of persons so fallen is, indeed, as Dr. Owen observes, "a matter rare, difficult, and seldom to be expected, not absolutely impossible. God gives laws for us in these things, not to himself. It may be possible with God, for aught we know, if there be not a contradiction in it to the holy properties of his nature; only he will not have us expect any such things from him."* But, to return :—

The true sense of scripture passages is to be determined, in most instances, by the strain of their connexion. If we keep this rule in view, we shall be materially assisted in our endeavours to ascertain the nature of the sin in question. The history of the fact which occasioned the solemn animadversion which I have cited from the Evangelist Matthew, is as follows. The ecclesiastical rulers of the Jewish people, having witnessed the miracles of Jesus Christ, which were wrought under the influence of the Holy Spirit, audaciously and impiously ascribed them to the power of Beelzebub. Our Lord,

* Owen on the Hebrews, chapter vi. verse 4—6.

after vindicating himself from this gross aspersion, and exposing the fallacy and absurdity of their reasoning, intimates, that, by this atrocious calumny, they had committed, or by persisting in it, in the face of incontestable evidence to the contrary, they were in danger of committing, that sin for which there was no forgiveness. The blasphemy, or sin against the Holy Ghost, therefore, appears to consist in the ascription of the miracles of Christ to satanic agency. This sense of the passage is at least deducible from the corresponding narrative in the Gospel of St. Mark; where, after the words of our Lord, -"He that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost, hath never forgiveness; but is in danger of eternal damnation," it is added," Because they said, He hath an unclean spirit."

Hence it is presumed, that no person who cordially believes in the Divine mission of Jesus Christ, can be guilty of this crime. What approximation some unbelievers and persecutors may have made towards it, by resisting and despising the evidences of the gospel, I do not pretend to determine. But still, it is probable that no one can commit it in its full extent, unless he could personally witness the evidences of Divinity which attended such miracles as the malignity of the ancient Pharisees ascribed to satanic power. The possibility, however,

of making any approach to this sin is overwhelming, and ought to be contemplated with terror by those, who, while they are compelled to admit the truth of our holy religion, scorn its sacred doctrines, abhor its restraints, and despise its faithful adherents. But the sincere and humble follower of Jesus has no reason to indulge any apprehension respecting it, since the commission of it supposes the existence and operation of those dispositions to which he invariably feels a decided and irreconcilable aversion.

II. We purposed to show what is implied in this prayer," Forgive us our debts."

1. It implies a sense of sin.

This prayer is repeated by thousands of professing Christians who feel little or no sense of sin, and consequently are never earnestly desirous of forgiveness. They may have a general and indistinct impression of their sinfulness, but they attach to it no idea of peculiar offensiveness. They are seldom distressed on account of it; and, when they are, they employ every art to extenuate it, or seek a refuge from their chafed and angry consciences, either in forgetfulness, or under the shade of their imaginary

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