l." This is as broad as broad can be, and whoever wills
can know assuredly that salvation is for him, not withstanding the
disputations of the devil to the contrary. In Heb. 12:16, 17 one would
infer from the apostle's illustration of Esau that a person can be in a
condition where repentance may be earnestly desired, even with tears, yet
impossible to be found. But genuine repentance is not implied here. The
margin has it, "He [Esau] found no place to change his mind," instead of
"no place for repentance." A person may commit the unpardonable sin and
still desire to change his condition or lot; he may through fear of
eternal damnation desire rather the position of a Christian: but he never
repents, he can not repent, it is not "in him" to repent, he will not meet
the conditions for salvation, and no one can get him to do so. He may
bewail his condition and stand in dread of the judgment, from a feeling of
selfish protection; he may be sorry for his sins as a criminal may be
sorry for his crime when he is sentenced to be punished: but he has no
inclination to godly sorrow; in fact, the spirit of the man and the Spirit
of God are incompatible; he has placed himself where the Spirit of God can
in no way bring itself to bear upon him. Oh, how awful is such a state!
But he is not conscious of any awfulness from having offended God; his
awfulness proceeds from a sense of his being eternally lost. The only
impulses that might draw such a one to seek the Christian state are those
of the selfish kind, just as a man may desire salvation from a belief that
it would be conducive to his selfish interest. A person will never get an
experience of salvation through such motives; and in the case of the one
who has committed the blasphemy of the Spirit, he may have such motives,
but he can never have the genuine kind, or in other words, be drawn of the
Spirit. Such a sin need not be prayed for. 1 John 5:16. It is certainly a
sin unto death.

In conclusion we would say that the unpardonable sin is not to be regarded
as some particular sin, singled out from all others, as though it were
some form of murder, lying, or stealing, more heinous than the rest. But
it lies in the nature of the sin committed, as affecting the relationship
with the Holy Spirit. A person may have committed a whole list of the
blackest crimes, and yet not have committed the unpardonable sin; or vice
versa, a person may have a good standing in point of morality, and yet