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The Sin Against the Spirit, January 27
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.
Matthew 12:31
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I will address these lines to those who have had light, those who have had
privileges, those who have had warnings and entreaties, who have made no
determined effort to yield themselves in full surrender to God. I would warn
you to fear lest you sin against the Holy Ghost, and be left to your own course,
sunk in moral lethargy, and never obtain forgiveness. Why allow yourselves
to be longer educated in the school of Satan, and pursue a course of action that
will make repentance and reformation impossible? Why resist the overtures
of mercy? Why say, “Let me alone,” until God shall be compelled to give you
your desire, since you will have it so?
Those who resist the Spirit of God think that they will repent at some
future day, when they get ready to take a decided step toward reformation;
but repentance will then be beyond their power. According to the light and
privileges given will be the darkness of those who refuse to walk in the light
while they have the light.
No one need look upon the sin against the Holy Ghost as something
mysterious and indefinable. The sin against the Holy Ghost is the sin of
persistent refusal to respond to the invitation to repent. If you refuse to
believe in Jesus Christ as your personal Saviour, you love darkness rather
than light, you love the atmosphere that surrounded the first great apostate.
You choose this atmosphere rather than the atmosphere that surrounds the
Father and the Son, and God allows you to have your choice. But let no
soul be discouraged by this presentation of the matter. Let no one who is
striving to do the will of the Master be cast down. Hope thou in God. The
Lord Jesus has made it manifest that He regards you at an infinite estimation.
He left His royal throne, He left His royal courts, He clothed His divinity
with humanity, and died a shameful death upon the cross of Calvary, that you
might be saved.—
The Review and Herald, June 29, 1897
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