Page:Unpardonable sin against the Holy Ghost, or, The sin unto death (1).pdf/5

( 5 ) 3. A man may ſin preſumptuoſly againſt great light and knowledge, and yet not commit this ſin unto death; for Peter, when he denied Chriſt, he did it againſt great knowledge of Chriſt, he knew Chriſt to be his Lord and Saviour, he was one of Chriſt's beloved diſciples, and for all that, how ſtrongly denied he Chriſt, and that with an oath too? And yet for all that, Chriſt looked upon him with a merciful eye, and he repented, and was for given:

4. It is not every malicious ſin that is the unpardonable ſin againſt the Holy Ghoſt; for St Paul had certainly great malice in his heart, when he went on ſo furiouſly to perſecute the church of God, and yet was converted; became a preacher of the gospel of Chriſt, which before be perſecuted.

5. And laſtly, It is not final unbelief, not final impenitence, that is the unpardonable ſin againſt the Holy Ghoſt, tho' ſome be of opinion that it is becauſe that ſin is unpardonable; and Chriſt himſelf hath ſaid, Math. xii.11. That all manner of ſin and blaſphemy ſhall be forgiven unto men, except it be the ſin againſt the Holy Ghoſt. But you are to take the words of our Saviour in their true ſenſe and meaning; it is all manner of ſin and blaſphemy committed within the compaſs of a man's life that ſhall be forgiven, execept the ſin againſt the Holy Ghoſt; for ſin of final impenitency and final unbelief is not completed until the very moment.