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when he is once enlightened by the Holy ⟨Ghost⟩ and has had some foretaste of the joys of ⟨heaven⟩ and then at last utterly opposing this illuminating work of the spirit, wilfully and ⟨maliciously⟩ to fall away, and so to reject the spirit's renewing work, alas! then the Holy Ghost has ⟨done,⟩ he has nothing more then than he can work in him; for this wretched creature has utterly rejected him, his enlightening work, his convincing work, his sanctifying work; he has utterly rejected Christ's pardon, heaven and all! Now this poor wretch is past all hopes of mercy, ⟨all⟩ hopes of pardon. Nay, for such a one we ⟨are⟩ forbidden to pray as you see in the verse where my text is a part. Now Christ prayed for ⟨them⟩ that maliciously crucified him, Luke xxvii 3 saying, Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.' Alas! they knew not ⟨what⟩ they were doing; 'For had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory I Cor. ii 8. But if they had known, and ⟨yet⟩ have crucified him, Christ would not have ⟨spent⟩ his breath to pray for them; for it would ⟨have⟩ been utterly in vain, for when a man ⟨has⟩ committed this unpardonable sin, neither praying in heaven nor earth can do him ⟨any⟩ good; for the text saith 'There is a sin unto death.'
I shall conclude with a few words of application, and I will be as short as possible, ⟨lest⟩ this discourse should be too large for ⟨so⟩ small a book. Here is,
First. A word of comfort.
