The Unpardonable sin against the Holy Ghost (1818)
THE
Unpardonable Sin
AGAINST THE
HOLY GHOST.
А
SERMON,
Preached by the Late
MR ROBERT RUSSEL.
Minister of the Gospel at Wadhurst, in Sussex.
EDINBURGH:
PRINTED FOR THE BOOKSELLERS.
———
1818.
A
SERMON
ON THE
UNPARDONABLE SIN.
I John, v. 16.
There is a Sin unto death.
This sin which St John calls here, 'The sin unto death,' is the unpardonable sin against the Holy Ghost described by our blessed Saviour Matth. xii. 32, That whosoever commits it, hath no forgiveness, neither in this world nor in the world to come; For, 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 he that speaketh a word against the Son, it shall be forgiven him; but whosoever speaks against the Holy Ghost, shall never be forgiven, neither in this world, nor in the world to come.' This sin against the Holy Ghost, is that sin which St John calls here, 'The sin unto death.' Not because that sin deserves death alone, for so does all sin deserves death both temporal and eternal. 'For the wages of sin, even all sin is death.' Rom. vi. 23. But this sin against the Holy Ghost, is called; 'The sin unto death,' because it binds a man over to eternal death, without any possibility of recovery. Now, some there are, that go on from one degree of sin to
another; they heighten and aggravate their sin more and more, until they are brought to that height at last, as to commit that sin for which there is no forgiveness.
There is no mere man since the fall, can live without sin, for all are sinners; But yet there are degrees of sin; some sins, in their own nature, are small; others are more great and henious. Many sins there are that are great, yet pardonable; and one sin there is, unpardonable: And, whosoever commits that one siu, shall have no forgiveness, but must for ever bear the weight and punishment both of that and of all his other sins. There is such a sin as St John speaks of here in my text, that is, 'A sin unto death.' And now I come to the explication of the words; from whence I shall raise his point of doctrine.
Doct 'That amongst all the sins committed by fallen mankind, there is only one sin, that is, 'A sin unto death;' and whosoever committeth that, he hath no forgiveness, neither in this world nor in the world to come.'
Now, for my further proceeding on this subject, I shall lay open to you,
What, 'The sin unto death,' is,
Secondly, That all other sins, how great and henious soever may be forgiven.
Thirdly, That this sin alone, shall never be forgiven.
Fourthly, The reason why this sin alone is unpardonable. And then,
Lastly, I shall conclude all with a few words of Application.
I shall begin first with a description of this unpardonable sin: Where I shall make plain a description of it, as possibly I can. And, in doing of it, I shall 1 Shew you negatively what is not this sin. 2 I shall shew you positively what it is.
I shall shew you, negatively, what is not 'The sin unto death:' Or, in what degree man may sin, and yet not commit that unpardonable sin against the Holy Ghost.
1. It is not every quenching of the motions of the Spirit that is this sin. It is true when the Holy Ghost comes with a still voice, and knocks at the door of sinner's hearts for entrance he often comes and strives with them and secretly wooes and beseeches them to leave their sins and be converted yet they quench and stifle all the motions and bear up the hearts against him and will not be obedient to the heavenly calls. Now such sin griveously against the Holy Ghost but yet this alone is not the unpardonable sin against the Holy Ghost; for many that have stood it ont a long time, and have often quenched and grieved the Holy Spirit, yet at last they have been wrought upon into sincere conversion.
2. A man may commit many henious and crying sins, and yet not be guilty of the unpardonable sin against the Holy Ghost. A man may be an idolator, a whoremonger, a fornicator, a murderer, and witchcraft, and sin with a very high hand; nay, he may live in all manner of filthiness and lewdness, and yet not be under the guilt of the unpardonable sin against the Holy Ghost. Thus we read, 2 Chrn. xxxii. and Manasseh sinned with a very high hand; he was an idolater, an inchanter, and worked witchcraft and dealt with familiar spirits and wrought much evil, in the sight of the Lord--And Mary Magdalen had seven devils cast out of her, Luke viii. 2. and yet both were pardoned.
3 A man may sin presumptuously 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 he denied Christ, and that with an oath: And yet, for all that, Christ looked upon him with a merciful eye and he repented and was forgiven.
4. It is not every malicious sin that is the unpardonabe sin against the Holy Ghost: for St Paul certainly had great malice in his heart when he went on so furiously to persecute the church of God, and yet he was converted, and became a preacher of the gospel of Christ, which before he persecuted.
5. And lastly, it is not final unbelief, nor final impenitence, that is the unpardonable sin against the Holy Ghost, tho' some be of opinion that it is, bccanse that sin is unpardonable, and Christ himself hath said, Mat. xii. 31, '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 as is all manner of sin and blasphemy committed within the compass of a man's life, that shall be forgiven, except the sin against the Holy Ghost, for the sin of final impenitence, and final unbelief, is not completed until the very moment of a man's death, and then you know there is no repentance, and consequently no pardon after death; for Christ said, 'He that sins against the Holy Ghost, hath no forgiveness, neither in this world nor in the world to come.' Now, why should Christ say, 'in this world,' if there be no space to be forgiven in this world. But a man may commit the unpardonable sin against the Holy Ghost even many years before his death. Besides, there are many thousands that die in impenitence and unbelief, and are damned and yet never committed the unpardonable sin against the Holy Ghost.
Thus have I shewed you, negatively, what is not this unpardonable sin: none of those sins in particular is that sin.
II. I come now to shew you positively, what this sin unto death is, and wherein this unpardonable sin against the Holy Ghost doth consist.
Now there are several opinions in the world about it, but I will endeavour, through God's help, to lead you to the plain sight of it by the light of the holy Scriptures.
Now, in the first place you must {SIC|kuow|know}}, that there are two sorts of people that cannot commit this unpardonable sin
The true believers cannot commit it, because it is a sin against great light and knowledge.--Indeed the greatest part of the world shall be damned; yet among the greatest part, there are but few of them that can commit that unpardonable sin against the Holy Ghost.
Some have both light and grace; these shall not commit the unpardonable sin.
Again, some have neither light nor grace; these cannot commit the unpardonable sin against the Holy Ghost.
Now, there must be two ingredients, to make up this unpardonable sin: that is, light in the head, and malice in the heart; without these two, the sin against the Holy Ghost cannot be committed; for, to sin against great light and knowledge, nor yet to sin ignorantly, without malice, is that sin; but they must both join together to make up this unpardonable sin. This we see plainly by the example of St Peter and St Paul; Peter denied Christ, and forsware himself too, and that griveously against light and knowledge; for he knew Christ to be the only begotten Son of God, and he knew God in him he was one of Christ's disciples, and one of his beloved disciples too: he was taught of Christ, and had experimental knowledge of his love and favour, and yet he wickedly with an oath denied him. Now if Peter had done this out of malice and spite, then he had committed that sin unto death for which there is no forgiveness, but Peter had no malice in his heart all the while, even at the time when he denied Christ, as you may see in Matth. xxvi 34. 35 when Christ told him 'Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice;' he answered 'If I should die with thee, I will not deny thee: And then denying him through infirmity and weakness of the flesh; when he had considered what he had done 'He went out and wept bitterly' Ver. 75. But Paul had great malice and spite against the ways and people of God as you may see Acts ix. i. 'Paul breathed out threatnings and slaughters against the disciples of the Lord, add went to the high priest desiring of him letters to Damascus to the Synagogues, that if he found any of this way whether men or women, he should bring them bound to Jerusalem.' Now here was great rage and malice in Saul, against the ways and the people of God; but doing it ignorantly he at last heard a voice saying 'Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?' And seeing a light from heaven, and hearing it was Jesus that he persecuted he was pricked at the heart, and trembling and astonished said 'Lord what wilt thou have me to do?' Now by these two places of Scripture, you may plainly see that Peter sinned against great light, and Paul out of great malice; yet neither of them committed the unpardonable sin against the Holy Ghost. But whensoever light and malice meet together in one man then there ⟨is⟩ the sin against the Holy Ghost. Now as all ⟨other⟩ sins, so is this sin against the Holy Ghost.
I. In thought; that is when a wicked man against his clear light and knowledge, doth but conceive a malicious thought or purpose towards persecuting the Gospel of Christ, or of the saints of Christ to hinder the work of the Holy Ghost on them.
This sin as is to be thought was the sin of the lost angels; for which cause they were lost without all hopes of pardon. Now some dispute whether this sin was a sin of the thought; but say in all likelihood it was; for the angels being only spirits without bodies, and so having no use of bodily tongues it could not be committed in word, not yet could they commit it in action, because they were cast out of heaven, before they could bring it into practise: therefore it must be a sin for the thought.
Now the sin was this: Their habitation being in the highest heavens and under God himself, they had exceeding great light and knowledge, they had more knowledge than all the men in tho world ever had, aud were happy above all other creatures; but when not being contented with this estate, they thought to be as high as God himself, therefore they maliciously sought to make war against the Son of God, and were immediately thurst out of heaven never more to see the face of mercy; and thus from the beginning they have been counted malicious and revengeful; as raging beasts and as roaring ions. Thus their sin being of the same nature with the sin against the Holy Ghost, they were excluded all hopes of pardon.
But that the sin of our first parents was not the unpardonable sin against the Holy Ghost is clear; for though they sinned against great light, yet they obeyed and complied with the will of God even when the tempter came, until at last they were enticed and overcome; but they did not fall maliciously, and so were not excluded all possibility of mercy.
This sin may be committed in word too; that is when a man speaketh blasphemously and maliciously of Christ and his holy ways. This was the sin of the Scribes and Pharisees Mark iii. 22. 'There were certain Scribes who came and said This fellow hath Beelzebub and casteth out devils by the prince of devils.' Therefore with Christ unto them ver 23. 29. 'Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven to the sons of men, and blasphemes wherewith they shall blaspheme: but whosoever shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation.
Now the reason of this speech of our blessed Saviour, is shewn in ver. 30. 'Because they said he hath an unclean spirit.' Which plainly shews that these Scribes had spoken blasphemy against the Holy Ghosts; as these Scribes were great learned men, they could know no other but that Christ was the Son of God, and must know that he cast out devils by the spirit of God, and yet they out of spite to Christ, maliciously and blasphemously said 'That he cast out devils by Beelzebub the prince of devils.' Thus the scribes committed the unpardonable sin against the Holy Ghost, and that in word.
3. This sin may be committed in action too; that is when a man being once thoroughly enlightened, having entered upon a holy course of life, and tasted the comfort of God's Spirit, and some foretaste of the joys of heaven, and not only makes profession of the gospel, but ⟨teaches⟩ it to others; yet at last take a dislike ⟨of⟩ the holy courses, and through spite and malice ⟨utterly⟩ forsaken, opposes and persecuted those good ways of God, which he before professed and taught. But to sum up this point, this unpardonable sin against the Holy Ghost is fully ⟨described⟩ by the apostle to the Hebrews. Chap 26, 27, 29. For if we sin wilfully after we ⟨have⟩ received the knowledge of the truth, there ⟨remaineth⟩ no more sacrifice for sin but a fearful ⟨looking⟩ for of judgement and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries--Of how such sore punishment shall be thought ⟨worthy⟩ who hath trodden under foot the Son ⟨of⟩ God, and counted the blood of the covenant therewith he was sanctified an unholy thing, and hath done despite to the Spirit of grace.' Likewise Heb. vi 4 5 6. 'For it is impossible ⟨for⟩ those who are made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, if they fall away to renew them again to repentance, seeing they crucify to themselves afresh the Son of God and put him to open shame.
Now the sin against the Holy Ghost is briefly this, it is a wilful and malicious opposing the known truth joined with final apostacy.
I shall a little explain these words and then proceed.
1. This sin unto death is an opposing sin. Now to oppose a thing is to contradict it or gainsay it; as when a man says a thing is so and so, he denies it and says it is not so; so when a man says a thing must be done, he says again It must not or it shall not be done; such an opposition is in the heart of him that commits this unpardonable sin; But a man may be an opposing man and yet may not committ this sin. Therefore,
2. It is the truth he must oppose; that is he must utterly oppose and reject Christ, who said 'I am the truth,' John xiv. 9. He opposeth all his threatnings: and will not believe his promises, and courts the blood of the covenant to be an unholy thing: Nay he also opposeth the Spirit of Christ, who is the Spirit of Truth, so that he will not obey his motions, and will not be led nor guided by him. But a man may oppose the truth and do it ignorantly; Therefore,
3. It must be the known truth that he opposeth. He must be one enlightened; but you must know it is not only a rational knowledge, and human learning, for he may know much of God and of his will, in the letter of his word, and yet not be capable of committing this unpardonable sin, but he must be so far enlightened as to see the evil that is in sin, and the excellency of Christ, he must taste of the heavenly gift, and be made partaker of the Holy Ghost; and taste of the good word of God and the powers of the world to come; and by the blood of the covenant, which he counts as an unholy thing, he is in part sanctified and cleansed from many sins; he must have sweet communion with God in his word and sacrament: he must have some taste of the love and be refreshed by it, and taste of the joys of heaven, and have some foretaste of the happiness of the world to come. This is that light and knowledge that lays a man open to the committing of that unpardonable sin. But yet a man may sin against all the light of experimental knowledge, and yet do it through the weakness of the flesh, or through some violent temptations as Peter did when he denied Christ. Therefore,
4. He must oppose the known truth wilfully. He must wilfully fall away after he hath received the knowledge of the truth, other sins are committed through infirmity, but this sin is wilful, the will is the chief actor in it, and to complete and make up this pardonable sin, there is
5. Malice in the house. Without this, this sin cannot be committed. It must be a malicious opposing of the known truth, that is when a man being once enlightened, and having tasted of the heavenly gift and the good word of God, and hath been made partaker of the Holy Ghost, and hath has some sweet relish and foretaste of heaven, he comes to take a dislike and to hate the holy ways of God, and maliciously oppose and persecute them, in despite of the Spirit of grace, crucifying afresh the Son of God, and putting him to open shame.
Now a man having gone thus far, he comes in the last place to be an apostate; for thus to oppose wilfully and maliciously the known truth is always joined with final and total apostacy; for he that is to far enlighted as to see the evil of sin, and the excellency of Christ and holiness, and hath been made partakers of the Holy Ghost, of his graces and comfort, and tasted of God's love and favour in Jesus Christ, and has some foretaste of the joys of the world to come; for such a one wilfully spitefully, and maliciously to fall away, he so falls as never to rise more. It is true the children of God fall, and that often and rise again, but then they fall through weakness or infirmity, and not wilfully or maliciously, but these wicked wretches fall wilfully and maliciously, and so fall finally. Against such the door of mercy is for ever shut. Concerning such St Peter said 'It had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, then after they had known it to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. But it happened unto them according to the true proverb. The dog is returned to his vomit again, and the sow that was washed, to her wallowing in the mire. 2 Pet. ii. 21. 22. there is a dreadful place in Scripture against ⟨these⟩ kind of apostates; that is Heb. x. 26. For if we sin wilfully after we have received ⟨the⟩ knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no ⟨more⟩ sacrifice for sin, but a fearful looking for ⟨a⟩ judgment and fiery indignation.'
Thus have I given you five steps, as so ⟨many⟩ links in a chain, all which make up the pardonable sin against the Holy Ghost. It is ⟨a⟩ wilful and malicious opposing of the known ⟨faith⟩, joined with final apostacy. Thus have ⟨I⟩ shewed you as plain as I can, what this sin ⟨unto⟩ death is.
Secondly. The next thing to be considered ⟨is⟩ that all other sins and blasphemies whatsoever may be forgiven. Be our sins ever so great ⟨and⟩ many, though we be the vilest wretches ⟨that⟩ ever lived, yet there is hope of pardon upon ⟨repentance⟩. Manasseh was the vilest wretch ⟨that⟩ ever we read of, yet he repented and was ⟨pardoned⟩. Also, Mary Magdalen was the chief ⟨of⟩ sinuers, for out of her came seven devils; yet ⟨because⟩ she loved much, much was given her. ⟨A⟩ man may be a whoremonger, an adulterer, ⟨and⟩ work witchcraft. and deal with familiar ⟨spirits⟩, and yet at last, he may repent and be ⟨saved⟩. And yet I have heard talk of some that be so foolish as to take the sin of fornication for ⟨an⟩ unpardonable sin from God's own words, in ⟨the⟩ second commandments; 'I, the Lord thy ⟨God⟩, am a jealous God, visiting the sins of the ⟨fathers⟩ upon the children, unto the third and ⟨fourth⟩ generation.' From whence they say, that children that are base born are not saved unto the third and fourth generation. But this is a most erroneous interpretation of God's word; It is those that hate him, and continue in hating of him, that he will inflict their iniquities upon; For fornicators and adulterers themselves may repent and be saved; much more the children who knew nothing, nor could help nothing. For Christ with his own mouth; tells the Scribes and Pharisees, Matth. xxi 51. that the publicans and harlots should enter into the kingdom of heaven before them, For there is no sin but what is pardonable, except the sin against the Holy Ghost But,
Thirdly, This sin against the Holy Ghost is alone the sin unto death; that is a sin unpardonable, never to be forgiven, neither in this world, nor in the world to come. Not because the merits of Christ are not sufficient to pardon it, for this sin, as well as other sins, is but finite, whereas the merits of Christ are infinite.
Object. What is the reason that this sin cannot be forgiven.
Answ. This question brings me to the fourth thing considerable. Do but mind me a little, and I will as plain and as clear as I can tell you what the reason is.
This sin is called the sin against the Holy Ghost, not because it is sin against the person of the Holy Ghost, for so is all sin against his person; but it is called the sin against the Holy Ghost, because it is against the office and work of the Holy Ghost. Now every one of the three persons have their particular work; The work of the Father is to create; the work of the Son is to redeem lost sinners; and the work of the Holy Ghost is to enlighten, convince, sanctify and convert them. Now a man committing this unpardonable sin against the Holy Ghost, rejects all this work of the spirit. Now for a man to be thoroughly enlightened by the Holy Ghost, that he comes to know the evil of sin, and his lost and undone condition without Christ, and that nothing but the merits of Christ can save him, and notwithstanding wilfully and maliciously oppose him, and the work of the spirit, and refuse to be beholden to him for salvation: now for such a one I say to be forgiven is utterly impossible.
Object, But why is it impossible. Nothing is impossible with God.
Object, Nothing is impossible with God that does not imply a contradiction; but that God will forgive the sin committed against the Holy Ghost, implies a contradiction; for how can he have a pardon given him, that utterly reject it. As for instance,
A man through ignorance, may deny Christ nay, maliciously fall from the profession of the truth into all kinds of wickedness, as did St Paul and the Jews that crucified Christ, yet not failing against light and knodwledge, there is room for the Holy Ghost to work upon him, to enlighten him, and convince him of his folly, and so make way for conversion. But for a man 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.
Secondly. A word of counsel.
First, A word of comfort. It may be ⟨that⟩ by hearing and reading of this terrible discourse your hearts begin to ache for fear that you ⟨have⟩ committed this unpardonable sin; but I ⟨think⟩ I have sufficiently proved to you what it is; ⟨and⟩ I tell you again, that there are few who ⟨can⟩ commit it; nay, there are millions that are tormented in hell, yet never committed this ⟨sin.⟩ Nay farther, an ignorant Protestant may ⟨through⟩ weakness, and out of a slavish fear turn ⟨Papist⟩ and renounce his profession, and yet not ⟨commit⟩ this unpardonable sin against the Holy ⟨Ghost⟩ for doing it out of ignorance and infirmity, there may be matter left for the Holy ⟨Ghost⟩ to work upon whereby he may yet be converted and saved. Consider this also, if you are ⟨afraid⟩ you have committed it, and wish that you ⟨have⟩ not committed it, and would not commit it, if ⟨it⟩ were to do again, then that is a true sign you have not committed it.
Secondly, I must conclude all with a ⟨word⟩ of counsel.
1. Watch very diligently against all sin. But above all take special heed of those ⟨sins⟩ that come near to the sin against the Holy Ghost and they are these; Hypocrisy, taking only ⟨the⟩ outward profession of religion, and so dissembling and mocking of God; sinning wilfully against conviction of conscience, and against great light and knowledge, and sinning presumptuously with an high hand. These sins, though none of them are the direct sin against the Holy Ghost, yet they come very near to ⟨it⟩, therefore take special heed of them, lest ⟨they⟩ in time should bring you to the committing ⟨of⟩ that unpardonable sin. And,
2. Labour to be sincere in religion:⟨and⟩ by a true faith ingraft yourselves in Christ, ⟨for⟩ they that be in Christ can never commit ⟨this⟩ unpardonable sin: for know this, that ⟨among⟩ all the sins committed by fallen mankind, ⟨there⟩ is one sin that is a 'sin unto death,' which ⟨is⟩ the unpardonable sin against the Holy Ghost which whosoever commits, hath no forgiveness neither in this world, nor in the world to come.
Consider what hath been said and ⟨the⟩ Lord give you understanding.
END OF THE SERMON.
EXTRACT
From the writings of a French Protestaut Minister, on the Revelation of the Apostle John.
Published in the year 1635.
After that we have explained all the visions in this Revelation, we are not to forget to enquire the reason why Jesus Christ judged it convenient to direct it, together with the Epistles, particularly to the Seven Churches of Asia, Ephesus, Syrerna, Pregamos, Thyatita, Sardia, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.
1. The number 7 is a mysterious number through this whole book. It signifies the universality and the fulfilling of all times as appeareth by the consideration of the 7 Seals, the 7 Trumpets, and the 7 Vials; because that number denoteth the whole train of things which the Seals Trumpets, and, Vials, foretell are to come to pass till the very destruction of the Antichristian empire.
2. Christ appeareth, having in his ⟨hand⟩ 7 Stars, which are the seven Pastors of ⟨the⟩ seven Churches, and walking in the midst ⟨of⟩ 7 Candlesticks, which are the seven Churches that we have mentioned. But why Seven? Doth he not promise to be the protector ⟨but⟩ of these seven Pastors and the Overseer a Defender but of these Churches.
3. There is a conformity between ⟨that⟩ vision in the first chapter, and those of ⟨the⟩ seven Seals, and of the opened Book; for ⟨we⟩ there find the same pomp the sound of the trumpet, and the glorious presence of our Saviour in the midst of his church; and, withal ⟨he⟩ appeareth there walking in the midst of the seven candlesticks, and sitting in the midst ⟨of⟩ the four living creatures and the four and twenty Elders; by which conformity we are given to understand, that this first vision is of equal weight and of an equal extension with all the other; and that this of the 7 churches reached to the end of the world, as all the following together do.
4. Jesus Christ saith to John, ver. 19. 'Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter' Which is as much as if he had said, Write, not only things which concern the churches which are mentioned, and which ought to be instructed as these are; but which also concern all churches to the end of the world and whereof the seven that are named a model and type.
The state of the Church of Ephesus doth ⟨lively⟩ represent the condition of the Primitive where Truth prevailed, and where at the last, ⟨the⟩ decay of charity became a disposition and ⟨a⟩ step to a more doleful state. Whosoever well ⟨considers⟩ what is said to the Church of Ephesus, will therein find the condition of the Primitive Church painted forth to the life.
That of Symrna represents the state of the church during the fourth and fifth ages; wherein Arianism had, the upper hand, and wherein the orthodox were outrageously persecuted. That ⟨is⟩ the Tribulation of ten days, wherewith Symrna is threatened not the Ten Persecutions of which Dioclesian's was the last.
That of Pregamus hath a reference to the time when Antichrist sitteth in the Temple of God, ⟨and⟩ when the church is hardly visible, through ⟨her⟩ dwelling as the church of Pregamus did, where Satan had his throne.
That of Thyatira had a great conformity to the condition of the church when Antichrist both began to fall, and began to raise himself again; According to the testimony given by our Saviour ⟨to⟩ that of Thyatira, 'Thou hast not the doctrine bf Jezebel, and thou hast known the depths of Satan.'
That of Philadelphia is a portraiture of ⟨that⟩ of the church when she shall be perfectly ⟨reformed⟩, when Sion shall be perfectly established, when the alone Key of David shall open ⟨and⟩ shut; when the voice of Jesus Christ shall ⟨be⟩ perfectly followed and that both with respect ⟨unto⟩ manners and to faith. This is the ⟨state⟩ wherein the church will be during the time ⟨of⟩ the Millenian reign.
Lastly, that of Laodicea is a mirror, wherein we may behold the state of the ⟨church⟩ towards the end of the world, when zeal ⟨shall⟩ become cold, charity scarce to be found, ⟨and⟩ corruption shall abound and be universal, ⟨and⟩ thereby draw upon the world that deluge of ⟨first⟩ which shall give a renovation unto it.
FINIS.
This work was published before January 1, 1929, and is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago.
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