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WHAT IT IS NOT
I admit there is such a thing as resisting the Spirit of God, and
resisting till the Spirit of God has departed; but if the Spirit of God has left any, they
will not be troubled about their sins. The very fact that they are troubled, shows that
the Spirit of God has not left them. If a man is troubled about his sins, it is the work
of the Spirit; for Satan never yet told him he was a sinner. Satan makes us believe that
we are pretty good; that we are good enough without God, safe without Christ and that we
don’t need salvation. But when a man wakes up to the fact that he is lost, that he is
a sinner, that is the work of the Spirit; and if the Spirit of God had left him, he would
not be in that state; and just because men and women want to be Christians, is a sign that
the Spirit of God is drawing them.
If resisting the Spirit of God is an unpardonable sin, then we have all committed it, and
there is no hope for any of us; for I do not believe there is a minister, or a worker in
Christ’s vineyard, who has not, some time in his life, resisted the Holy Ghost; who
has not some time in his life rejected the Spirit of God. To resist the Holy Ghost is one
thing, and to commit that awful sin of blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, is another thing;
and we want to take the Scripture and just compare them. Now, some people say, "I
have such blasphemous thoughts; there are some awful thoughts that come into my mind
against God," and they think that is the unpardonable sin. We are not to blame for
having...BAD THOUGHTS come into our minds. If we harbor them, then we are to blame. But if
the devil comes and darts an evil thought into my mind, and I say, "Lord help
me," sin is not reckoned to me. Who has not had evil thoughts come into his mind,
flash into his heart, and been called to fight them! One old divine says, "You are
not to blame for the birds that fly over your head, but if you allow them to come down and
make a nest in your hair, then you are to blame. You are to blame if you don’t fight
them off." And so with these evil thoughts that come flashing into our minds; we have
to fight them, we are not to harbor them; we are not to entertain them. If I have evil
thoughts come into my mind, and evil desires, it is no sign that I have committed the
unpardonable sin. If I love these thoughts and harbor them, and think evil of God, and
think Jesus Christ a blasphemer, I am responsible for such gross iniquity: but if I charge
Him with being the prince of devils, then I am committing the unpardonable sin.
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