(Scripture Reading Exercise.)

THE SIN AGAINST THE HOLY GHOST.

SPECIAL TEXT: "It is impossible for those who were once enlightened, * * * if they shall fall away, to renew them again to repentance." (Hebrews v:4, 6.)

DISCUSSION.

1. Possibility and Enormity of the Sin: It is possible to so sin against the Holy Ghost as to forfeit the spiritual life which his presence in the human soul gives, and that conformation to the Divine type which his effectual working would otherwise bring to pass. That being true, the sin against the Holy Ghost must be the most appalling act that can enter into human experience. Perhaps the most heinous crime known to human law is the crime of murder, wherein innocent blood is shed. But that sin which effectually kills spirit-life, which has for its victim not a human being but a divine being—that overtops in atrocity any possible physical murder. In this concluding chapter of our treatise let us contemplate this awful sin—this master crime. And first let us be sure from the word of God that there is such a sin.

2. The Teaching of the Christ Upon the Subject: According to St. Matthew Jesus said:

"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."^[A]

[Footnote A: St. Matt, xii:31, 32.]

St. Mark puts it in this form: "Verily I say unto you, all sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme: but he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation."^[A] St. Luke's version is—"Whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man it shall be forgiven him: but unto him that blasphemeth against the Holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven."^[B]

[Footnote A: St. Mark iii:28, 29.]

[Footnote B: St. Luke xii:10.]

3. St. John on the Sin Unto Death: This represents practical unanimity in the testimony of these three evangelists upon the subject. And although St. John has nothing directly upon the subject in his Gospel, yet in his epistle he has a passage which brings him into harmony with the others upon the subject: "If a man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death:^[A] I do not say that he shall pray for that. All unrighteousness is sin [transgression of the law, ch. iii:4] and there is a sin not unto death;"^[B] but also, as above stated, there is a sin unto death.

[Footnote A: That is, doubtless, a sin which kills the spiritual life in man; that breaks this union with God—the sin against the Holy Ghost which men have of God, and they become spiritually dead—and it is impossible to revive them to life again. (See Heb. vi:6.)]

[Footnote B: John v:16, 17.]

4. Nature of the Sin—St. Paul: Paul in his exposition of this doctrine, throws some light on the nature of this sin: "Let us go on unto perfection," is the Apostle's admonition. "Not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptism and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment. And this will we do if God permit. For," glancing back upon some whe had received these fundamental principles and ordinances, sinned against them and would fain be repeating them—"it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, if they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame. For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receive the blessing from God: but that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned."^[A]

[Footnote A: Hebrews vi:1-8.]

From this it appears that the sin against the Holy Ghost is sin against that enlightenment to the human soul which possession of the Holy Ghost brings. Sin against knowledge of truth which knowledge was produced in the very soul of man by witness of the Holy Ghost—is a sin against light and truth. And "if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sin, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses; of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace? For we know him that hath said, vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, the Lord shall judge his people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God."^[A]

[Footnote A: Heb. x:26, 31.]

5. The Path of Danger: The "wilful sin" here condemned is, of course, the "sin unto death," not every sin that one might commit, though every sin that man commits, small as well as great, is along the path of danger, and in the direction of, and may lead to, the sin unto death. The path of safety from the sin unto death lies in the other direction; not in the way of sinful dalliance, but in a stern battle for righteousness and against sin. Headed that way, there is no danger of the "sin unto death;" but every transgression of the law of righteousness—which is sin^[A]—though not a sin unto death, leads towards the death of the spirit life planted in the soul by the Holy Ghost—hence to be avoided, shunned. Man must not, even as God does not, look upon sin with the least degree of allowance in himself, always it must be abhorred and resisted. In that course and in that course alone lies safety.

[Footnote A: I John iii:4.]

6. Joseph Smith on the Sin Against the Holy Ghost: The Prophet Joseph in a discourse at the General Conference of the Church, held at Nauvoo in 1844, upon this subject of sinning against the Holy Ghost, said:

"What has Jesus said? All sins, and all blasphemies, and every transgression, except one, that man can be guilty of, may be forgiven; and there is a salvation for all men, either in this world or the world to come, who have not committed the unpardonable sin, there being a provision either in this world or the world of spirits. Hence God hath made a provision that every spirit in the eternal world can be ferreted out and saved unless he has committed that unpardonable sin which cannot be remitted to him either in this world or the world of spirits. * * * I said, no man can commit the unpardonable sin after the dissolution of the body, nor in this life, until he receives the Holy Ghost; but they must do it in this world. * * * All sins shall be forgiven, except the sin against the Holy Ghost; for Jesus will save all except the sons of perdition. What must a man do to commit the unpardonable sin? He must receive the Holy Ghost, have the heavens opened unto him, and know God, and then sin against him. After a man has sinned against the Holy Ghost, there is no repentance for him. He has got to say that the sun does not shine while he sees it; he has got to deny Jesus Christ when the heavens have been opened unto him, and to deny the plan of salvation with his eyes open to the truth of it; and from that time he begins to be an enemy. This is the case with many apostates of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints."^[A]

[Footnote A: Improvement Era, Vol. XII, 1909, pp. 185-7.]

7. The Punishment and the Sin: This is in strict harmony with one of the revelations of the New Dispensation, portraying the future estates of man in the varying degrees of glory in the Kingdom of God. Elsewhere^[A] I have presented the following digest:^[B]

[Footnote A: Outlines of Ecclesiastical History, pp. 419-421, 3rd edition.]

[Footnote B: The Revelation is in Doc. and Cov., Sec. lxxvi:25-49.]

There is a class of souls with whom the justice of God must deal, which will not and cannot be classified in the celestial, terrestrial, or telestial glories. They are the sons of perdition. But though they will not be assigned a place in either of these grand divisions of glory, the revelation from which we draw our information respecting man's future state, describes the condition of these sons of perdition so far as it is made known unto the children of men. It also informs us as to the nature of the crime which calls for such grievous punishment.

The sons of perdition are they of whom God hath said that it had been better for them never to have been born; for they are vessels of wrath, doomed to suffer the wrath of God, with the devil and his angels in eternity. Concerning whom he hath said there is no forgiveness in this world nor in the world to come. These are they who shall go away into everlasting punishment, with the devil and his angels, and the only ones on whom the second death shall have any power; the only ones who will not be redeemed in the due time of the Lord, after the sufferings of his wrath. He saves all the works of his hands except these sons of perdition; but they go away to reign with the devil and his angels in eternity, where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched, which is their torment. The end thereof, the place thereof no man knoweth. It has not been revealed, nor will it be revealed unto man, except to them who are made partakers thereof. It has been partially shown to some in vision, and may be shown again in the same partial manner to others; but the end, the height, the depth, and the misery thereof, they understand not, nor will anyone but those who receive the terrible condemnation.

Such the punishment, now as to the crime that merits it. It is the crime of high treason to God, which pulls down on men this fearful doom. It falls upon men who know the power of God and who have been made partakers of it, and then permit themselves to be so far overcome of the devil that they deny the truth that has been revealed to them and defy the power of God. They deny the Holy Ghost after having received him. They deny the Only Begotten Son of the Father after the Father hath revealed him, and in this crucify him unto themselves anew, and put him to an open shame. They commit the same act of high treason that Lucifer in the rebellion of heaven did, and hence are worthy of the same punishment with him.

They have crucified not the body of the Lord Jesus, but a spirit which united with man's spirit which unhindered in its work, would have conformed man to the Divine image—now, after the sin against the Holy Ghost, impossible. Spirit murder has been committed—a divinity slain and the guilty one hath no forgiveness. Thank God the number who commit that fearful crime is but few. It is only those who attain to a very great knowledge of the things of God that are capable of committing it, and the number among such are few indeed who become so recklessly wicked as to rebel against and defy the power of God. But when such characters do fall, they fall like Lucifer, never to rise again; they get beyond the power of repentance or the hope of forgiveness.

APPENDIX.

The next two Lessons I place under the head of "Appendix," because they open up anew many things treated in the body of the work; and which I would not again refer to only because of the associations given to them in the discourses of the great Apostle of the Gentiles, and the greater Apostle of the New Dispensation. I throw the "Appendix" into the form of lessons, in the hope that the topics of the respective discourses will be all the more emphasized and appreciated.