THE UNPARDONABLE SIN AGAINST THE HOLY GHOST. MATTHEW xii. 22-33. Then was brought unto him one possessed with a devil, blind and dumb and he healed him, insomuch that the blind and dumb both spake and saw. And all the people were amazed, and said, Is this the Son of David? But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This man casteth not out devils but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils. 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. Or else, how can one enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man; and then he will spoil his house? He that is not with me is against me, and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad. Wherefore I say unto you, all manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy of the Spirit 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. BECAUSE it hath pleased God to make faith in his Son Jesus Christ, the means of obtaining pardon of all other foregoing sins, it is the great design of the enemy of mankind to keep us from this faith, or to destroy it in the bud and because God hath made the extrinsic witness of the Holy Ghost in his mighty and wonderful works, to be the chief objective means, or last : argument by which unbelievers may be convinced of the truth it is therefore the chief design of the devil to hide from men's eyes the force of this argument. To which end I have long observed that he proceedeth by these degrees. 1. He labours, if it may be to keep men ignorant of the very matter of fact, that ever such works were done by Christ or his disciples. To which purpose, if he can, he will keep from them the Gospel itself. If not, he will cause them to overlook and not observe these wonders which it doth contain. 2. If men must needs know the Gospel, what it saith of the glorious works of Christ, his next endeavour is to make them conceive that all the history of these wonders is fabulous, and that never any such things were done as is here reported. By this temptation he assaulteth but few learned men who are well versed in antiquities, and must know that, by abundant, unquestionable history, and the very confessions of the enemies, the report of these works have been brought down to our hands; but rather he thus assaulteth the ignorant and half-witted men, who have gathered up a little of that knowledge which grew near to their own doors, but scarce knew what hath been done in other parts of the world, or what was done in any considerable time before them, especially if he can once get them to distrust their guides, and persuade them that nothing is to be taken upon trust from others, in such matters as our salvation is so much concerned in; and so deprive them of the benefit of the knowledge of their teachers. Two sorts, therefore, are in greatest danger of this temptation. First, Those that are unreasonably diffident of all men. Be-· cause some are liars, therefore they will believe none; and because some histories are not to be credited, they will judge so of all. Having not judgment to discern between the credible and the incredible; between that history which comes with evidence of truth and that which doth not; nor between that which we have cause to suspect and that which we have not. Yet do they hold their lands and lives by men's testimony. Two witnesses may take away either; which were an unjust constitution, were there not some natural credibility in men, and some natural friendship to truth as truth. If these men would believe nobody, and nobody believe them, how would they live and converse with mankind? If one could thus persuade an obscure countryman that no man is to be credited, you might easily persuade him that there is no such city as London, and no prince, no council, &c., and that we never had a king in England. There are some cases, wherein it is folly to believe men; and some wherein it is a kind of madness not to believe, where the circumstances are such as may plainly show us that there is no deceit. 2. Those also are liable to this dangerous temptation, who have broken loose from under the guidance and reverence of their teachers, and have got contemptuous or suspicious thoughts of them; by which they are rather induced to question a truth, because they report it, than to believe them, as learners must do if they will profit. If the devil can once bring men into this unruliness and disorder, by their pride, so that they can know no more than their own reading or hearing with the ordinary help of the Spirit will afford them, and so lose the treasures of further knowledge, which is laid up for them in their guides, whose lips should preserve knowledge, and at whose mouth they should inquire of the law; (Mal. ii. 6, 7;) no wonder if such should question whether this which they read in English be the same Scriptures which were indited by the Spirit, and written at first in Hebrew and Greek. Much less can we marvel, if they be liable to sore temptations, when they read of Christ and his apostles, and their mighty works, to doubt whether ever there were such persons on earth, or whether they ever did such works or not. And we see already, by most fearful experience, that those people who first cast off their guides, and received evil thoughts of them as men not to be credited, are many of them already turned infidels, and deny the Holy Scriptures to be true. God knew when he set up the office of pastors in his church, that common people would not all have hearts or time to use so much means for the obtaining of the full and settled knowledge of the matters of the christian faith, and thereunto belonging, as is necessary for the encountering of all sorts of temptations; and therefore was it his will that some should wholly give themselves to this work; (1 Tim. iv. 15 ;) that they might be, by office, the helpers and strengtheners of their brethren; and as men repair to physicians for advice for their bodies, and to lawyers for their estates, so they might do to their overseers and teachers for their souls; and from them receive help for the repelling of temptations, and for establishment in the faith. If one can make a silly countryman believe that lawyers are so false that none of them are to be credited, and that he should believe no man in such matters, you may next persuade him that all the laws of the land are counterfeit, and never made by king or parliament, because he never saw the records or rolls, or had opportunity himself to use those means that might fully satisfy him. It pleased Christ at first to do his works in the presence of some chosen witnesses, and before one nation or people, and to show himself, after his resurrection, but to some; and to send them, as chosen witnesses to the rest of the world, and to require the people, in all nations where they came, to believe their report. They could not at first hearing believe them as divine messengers, coming from God with extraordinary authority; but they must believe them as common men, about matters of fact with a human faith; who still professed that they were eyewitnesses of Christ's resurrection, that they saw his works, and heard his words; and then they brought them up to a divine faith, by a further divine evidence. That such things were indeed done and said, they believed on the credit of the eye and ear-witnesses, having not opportunity of seeing and hearing themselves. That it was God that did and said them, they were convinced by the full evidence of divine wisdom, power, and holiness, that was in the words and deeds, the Spirit effecting that conviction: that the words of God were all true, they believed by a divine faith, because they were of God that cannot lie. So to this day God will have the first part to be handed down from the first witnesses by others, especially succeeding officers appointed to that end. That the first witness did indeed give in to their successors both their verbal testimony, and also the testimony which we now deliver in the sacred writings, that these things were spoken and done, this people must receive much upon the credit of others, especially appointed by office to preserve and teach them. But that these works and words were of God, the Spirit must persuade by showing them the divine evidence; and that they are true must be believed because they are of God. So that if God be pleased, from first to last, to make so much use of the witness of man, for the begetting of faith, it is no wonder if the tempter have much advantage to make those men infidels that despise their guides. And will not receive the just and unquestionable testimony of men. 3. The next and last shift of the devil is this: if he cannot keep men from believing that ever such works of Christ were done, and so cause them to discredit the matters of fact, then he will persuade them that God is not the author of them. For if man once discern that they are the works of God, he will not |