Fourthly, It shows what need we have of constant hatred and mor- tifying of sin, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way, Heb. vi, 12, 13. Therefore labour to be humbled for and to strive against the least sin ; as Hezekiah was for his pride : 2 Chron, xxxii. 26, ' Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart.'
Fifthly, Take heed of the least sin, either as to judgment or practice.
1. You must not give yourselves liberty to swerve from the least truth which God has revealed to you, and of which conscience has been convinced. Though you do not fail in the main and in fundamental matters, yet you must make conscience of holding fast the truth in the smallest things : Gal. ii. 5, ' To whom we gave place by subjection, no, not for an hour ; that the truth of the gospel might continue with you.'
2. For practice. We may not do anything which we have cause to doubt of whether it be such as is forbidden : Kom. xiv. 23, ' He that doubteth is damned if he eats.' David was afraid of his secret faults.
Let us now take the expression as it lietli in the textual translation or reading. There are many great transgressions, but there is one abovie the rest, which deserves to be called the great transgression, and is usually spoken of in scripture as such ; and fitly, because it is only •excepted out of the covenant of grace, as not to be pardoned by it. And also because it importeth the highest malice and contempt of God that a creature on this side hell can be guilty of, and cometh near to the sin of the devils or evil angels. And it deserveth to be spoken of in this place, because presumptuous sin is a disposition to the unpar- <lonable sin. That place, ' If we sin wilfully, after that we have re- ceived the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sin,' Heb. x. 26, alludeth to Num. xv. 28-31, where no sacrifice was allowed for presumptuous sin, or sinning with an high hand. And it is said, ver. 30, ' That he that sinneth presumptuously reproacheth the Lord ; ' is guilty of blasphemy against God ; and this great sin symboliseth with it, for it is called a 'blasphemy against the Holy Ghost ; ' Luke xii. 10, ' Whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him ; but unto him that blasphemeth against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven.' Wilful sins imply or express a blasphemy. Therefore, for the consolation of the weak and wounded in spirit, who are apt to charge themselves with the committing of this sin, and for our own caution, that we may not run into it nor come near it, there are certain degrees and steps that lead down unto this sin unto death, and we shall do well to keep out of harm's way. Those that sin wilfully against light and checks of conscience are in tlie highway to final apostasy and falling off from God. All presumptuous sins give a iearful wound to the conscience, and Satan gets advantage by them ;
398 SERMONS UPON PSALM XIX. 13. [SeR. VL
therefore let us a little state what is this great sin. I shall not make a set and solemn discourse of it, yet something I shall open of it to you.
First, Let us consider the names by which it is called : ' Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost ;' Mat. xii. 31, ' Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men ; but the- blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.' Here I must give an account why it is called ' blasphemy,' and why 'against the Holy Ghost.' Why blasphemy. Blasphemy is either- explicit or implicit. There is implied blasphemy in every presump- tuous sin ; it is a reproach to God. Thus Pharaoh openly and by consequence and interpretation, blasphemed God when he said, 'Who is the Lord, that I should obey him ?' a questioning of his authority, or a questioning of his power and truth. Implied blasphemy is a saying in the heart, as security and presumption in sin denieth God's providence or just government: Zeph. i. 12, ' That say in their heart. The Lord will not do good, neither will he do evil.' But this sin is not only implied, but often explicit (if not always) and express blasphemy, as appeareth by all the descriptions of it ; as Mat. xii. 24, ' This fellow doth not cast out devils but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils;' which occasioned Christ's speaking of this sin. So Heb. vi. 6, ' They crucify the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame ; ' that is, they judged him such an one as the Jews that crucified him, who judged not Christ to be the Messiah and the Son of God, but a seducer, impostor, and malefactor ; they desired judgment against him as such, that he might be crucified and put to shame ; and they ratify this ex post facto, by their after consent. So again, this sin is aggra- vated by the blasphemy which is contained in it ; when it is said of the total and final apostate, Heb. x. 29, ' That he hath trodden underfoot the Son of God, and counted the blood of the covenant an unholy thing, and done despite to the Spirit of grace ; ' he doth blasphemously vilify, undervalue, and debase Christ as low as the dust and dirt under his feet, and judgeth him an impostor, a false prophet, and malefactor, and justly and worthily crucified. His blood, which was the ground of the new covenant, he counteth it common blood, such as had no expiating and puiging power, and reckoneth it as impure and unholy, despising and disdaining the Spirit of grace, accounting the gifts, illuminations, motions, comforts of the Spirit as delusions and impulses of the devil, both in himself, if formerly he felt them, and in others; and all this out of malice and detestation of the christian religion, after he hath felt some of the divine effects of this Spirit in his own soul, both in terrors and comforts.