The Clarksburg telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1874-1926, 1895-08-02
7 ALMAGE
breaches on the objectionable
Sin.
You Can Never Undo III. Misdsed. Of Youth
and ~ You Are Going TO Do Bet
ter Now IL the Time-Dr.
TAlmage's sermon.

In his sermon Sunday Rev DR.. Tai
mage, who is still in the west ON hi.
annual summer tour, chose n subjec,
which has been a fruitful theme Of
theological disputation for centuries
past, viz: 1.-THE objectionable Sin. I,
The texts selected were: "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 speak
eth against the Holy Ghost, II shall
not be forgiven him, neither in this
world, neither in the world to come. =
Matthew xii: 3l-32
lie found no place OF repentance,
though he sought 1t carefully with
tenrs"-llebrews xii. II.
As sometimes you gather the whole
family around the evening stand TO
hear some book read. so now we
gather-a great Christian family group
to study this text; and now may one
and the same lamp east its glow on all
the circlel
You see from the first passage that /
read That there is sin against the
Holy Ghost for which man is never
pardoned. Once having committed it
he is bound hand and foot for the dun
peons OF despair. Sermons may be
preached to him, songs may be
sung to him, prayers may be of
fered in his behalf-but all to no
purpose. He is u captive for this
world and captive for the world
that is 10 come Do you suppose that
there IS any one here who has com
mitted that siu2 All sins are against
the Holy Ghost; but my text speaks OF
one especially. 1t is very clear to my
own mind that the sin against the HOLY
Ghost was the ascribing of the works
of the Spirit to the agency of the devil
in the time Of the apostles. Indeed,
the Bible distinctly tells us that. In
other words, II man had sight given
TO him. or II another was raised from
the dead, and some one standing there
should say, This man got his sight
by satanic power; the Holy Spirit did
not do this; Beelzebub accomplished
it," or, This man raised from the dead
was raised by satanic influence" the
man who said that dropped down un-
der the curse of the text, and had COM
mitted the fatal sin against the Holy
Ghost.
Now, l do not think it is possible in
this day to commit that sin. / think
it was possible only in Apostolic times.
But it is very terrible thing ever to
say anything against the Holy Ghost,
and it is marked fact that our race
has been marvelously kept back from
that profanity. You hear man swear
by the name of the Eternal God and by
the name of Jesus Christ, but you never
heard man swear by the name of the
Holy Ghost. There are those here TO.
day who fear they are guilty of the un.
pardonable sin. Have you such aux.
iety9 Then have 10 tell you
that you have not
committed that sin, because the
very anxiety is the result of the
movement of the gracious Spirit, and
Your anxiety is proof positive, as GER
tainly as anything that can be demon.
strated in mathematics, that you have
not committed the sin that have
been speaking of. can look off upon
this audience and feel that there Is
salvation for all. 1t is not like when
they put out with those lifeboats from
the Loeb Earn for the Villa du Havre.
They knew there was not room for all
the passengers. but they were going to
do US well as they could. But to-day
we man the lifeboat of the Gospel. and
we cry out over the sea. Room for
air. Oh, that the Lord Jesus Christ
would, this hour, bring YOU all out of
the flood of sin, and plant YOU on the
deck of the glorious old Gospel craft.
But while have said do not think
ii is possible for us to commit the par.
ticular sin spoken of in the first text, l
have by reason of the second text TO
call your attention 10 the fact that
there are sins which, though they may
be pardoned, are in some respects ire
vocable, and you can find no place for
repentance. though you seek ii careful.
~ with tears. Esau had birth.
right given him. In olden times IL
meant not only temporal, but
spiritual blessing. One dav Esau
took his birthright and traded it off
for something to eat Oh, the folly!
But let us not be too severe upon him,
for some of us have committed the
same folly. After he had made the
trade he wanted to get it back. just
as though you tomorrow morning
should take all your notes and bonds
and government securities, and should
go into restaurant, and. in fit OF
recklessness and hunger, throw all
those securities on the counter and
ask for plate of food. making that
exchange. This was the one Esau
made. lie sold his birthright for q
mess of pottage, and he was very sorry
about it afterward, but The found no
place repentance, though he sought
it carefully with tears"
There is an impression in almost
every mans mind that somewhere in
the future there will be u chance where
he can correct all his mistakes. Live
as we may, II we only repent in time.
God will forgive US, and then all will
be as we'll us though we had neve,
committed sin. My discourse shall
come in collision with that theory.
shall show you, my friends. as God
will help me, that there Is such thing
as unsuccessful repentance; that Their,
are things done wrong that ALWAYS
stay wrong, and for them you ma,
seek some place of repentance. anC
seek It carefully, but never find it.
Belonging to this class of irrevocabl,
mistakes is the folly of misspeut
youth. We may look back to our col
leRe DAYS, and think how we neUlecte,