Page:Spiritual Reflections for Every Day in the Year - Vol 1.pdf/156

 from it, for it is the only right source whence all knowledge springs. From Divine Love all creation sprung forth; by Wisdom all things are harmoniously arranged, so as to present one universal scene of beauty; and by power all things are sustained and preserved. Thus God, as Love, is the Father of all; as Wisdom which is love manifested in its own bright form, He is the Son or Only-begotten. Redeemer, and Saviour; and by his Divine operative Power, He is the Holy Spirit, the Enlightener, Preserver, and Comforter of all. Thus, Love, Wisdom, and Power—Father, Son, and Spirit—are the fulness of the Godhead, which dwell bodily in Jesus Christ; we only receiving of his fulness, and grace for grace. (John 1. 16.)

Now as the Holy Spirit is the living operative influence and power of God, which consists in teaching, enlightening, regenerating, and guiding man in the paths of righteousness, and thence to heaven; so to blaspheme or to sin against the Holy Spirit, is not merely to commit any one particular sin, but it is a constant and determined resistance, from an interior love of evil, to all divine influence and teaching whatever. It is a confirmed dislike to all that is divinely good and true; a denial of the divinity and sanctity of the Word; a denial of the divinity of the Lord which leads to a contempt of heaven and the church of God, as well as to atheistical pride and hardness of heart. Such sin has no forgiveness; for when the influence of the Holy Spirit of God is resisted all through life, the heart remains unchanged; depravity and pollution are deeply fixed in the soul, where the kingdom of God should have been formed; sins are not remitted or cast out, but remain permanently