"Then was brought unto Him one possessed with a devil, blind, and dumb; and He healed him, insomuch that the blind and dumb both spake and saw. And all the people were amazed, and said, Is not this the son of David? But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils. And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, … 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 whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him; but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come" (Matt. 12:22-32).

This was a dispensational sin, and we may say definitely cannot be committed, at least in exactly the same way, by individuals today. Jesus had come in the power of the Holy Spirit, presenting Himself to Israel as their rightful King. His mighty works, as we have seen, accredited His testimony. The only way in which men could refuse to own His grace and yet recognize His power was by attributing all His mighty works to the devil. Those who did this gave evidence that they had sinned until their consciences were seared as with a hot iron. They had gone beyond Redemption Point, if I may use a well-known figure; not because God would not have been merciful to them if they had repented, but because they had so persisted in their sin that there was on their part no evidence of nor desire for repentance. Had they simply spoken against the Son of Man, Jesus said it would have been forgiven them; but He solemnly added that those who speak against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven, neither in this age, nor in that which is to come. The Lord was speaking of two ages_the age that was just closing, and the age to come which is, properly speaking, the millennium. The present age was hidden at that time in the mind of God; but even so one might apply His words to this age also, for those who deliberately refuse the testimony of the Holy Spirit concerning Christ could be forgiven neither in the Jewish age, nor in this or any other age to follow.

Many dear souls have tormented themselves, or have been tormented by the devil, with the awful thought that they are guilty of the sin here described; whereas deep in their hearts they fully recognize the Deity of the Lord Jesus and have no thought of attributing to the devil the power that wrought in Him.

(Reprinted from Notes on the Gospel of Matthew.)