Since there has been some discussion of the unpardonable sin I share the following passage which clearly and Biblically covers the subject in modern easy to understand language. This passage comes from the book " The Desire of Ages". It is my prayer that it will bless all who read it and enable them to bless and help others.

Chapter 33—Who Are My Brethren?

This chapter is based on Matthew 12:22-50; Mark 3:20-35.

The sons of Joseph were far from being in sympathy with Jesus

in His work. The reports that reached them in regard to His life

and labors filled them with astonishment and dismay. They heard

that He devoted entire nights to prayer, that through the day He was

thronged by great companies of people, and did not give Himself

time so much as to eat. His friends felt that He was wearing Himself

out by His incessant labor; they were unable to account for His

attitude toward the Pharisees, and there were some who feared that

His reason was becoming unsettled.

His brothers heard of this, and also of the charge brought by the

Pharisees that He cast out devils through the power of Satan. They

felt keenly the reproach that came upon them through their relation

to Jesus. They knew what a tumult His words and works created,

and were not only alarmed at His bold statements, but indignant at

His denunciation of the scribes and Pharisees. They decided that

He must be persuaded or constrained to cease this manner of labor,

and they induced Mary to unite with them, thinking that through His

love for her they might prevail upon Him to be more prudent.

It was just before this that Jesus had a second time performed

the miracle of healing a man possessed, blind and dumb, and the

Pharisees had reiterated the charge, “He casteth out devils through

the prince of the devils.” Matthew 9:34. Christ told them plainly

that in attributing the work of the Holy Spirit to Satan, they were [322]

cutting themselves off from the fountain of blessing. Those who had

spoken against Jesus Himself, not discerning His divine character,

might receive forgiveness; for through the Holy Spirit they might be

brought to see their error and repent. Whatever the sin, if the soul

repents and believes, the guilt is washed away in the blood of Christ;

but he who rejects the work of the Holy Spirit is placing himself

where repentance and faith cannot come to him. It is by the Spirit

that God works upon the heart; when men willfully reject the Spirit,

and declare It to be from Satan, they cut off the channel by which

God can communicate with them. When the Spirit is finally rejected,

there is no more that God can do for the soul.

The Pharisees to whom Jesus spoke this warning did not themselves

believe the charge they brought against Him. There was not

one of those dignitaries but had felt drawn toward the Saviour. They

had heard the Spirit’s voice in their own hearts declaring Him to

be the Anointed of Israel, and urging them to confess themselves

His disciples. In the light of His presence they had realized their

unholiness, and had longed for a righteousness which they could not

create. But after their rejection of Him it would be too humiliating

to receive Him as the Messiah. Having set their feet in the path of

unbelief, they were too proud to confess their error. And in order to

avoid acknowledging the truth, they tried with desperate violence

to dispute the Saviour’s teaching. The evidence of His power and

mercy exasperated them. They could not prevent the Saviour from

working miracles, they could not silence His teaching; but they did

everything in their power to misrepresent Him and to falsify His

words. Still the convicting Spirit of God followed them, and they

had to build up many barriers in order to withstand its power. The

mightiest agency that can be brought to bear upon the human heart

was striving with them, but they would not yield.

It is not God that blinds the eyes of men or hardens their hearts.

He sends them light to correct their errors, and to lead them in safe

paths; it is by the rejection of this light that the eyes are blinded

and the heart hardened. Often the process is gradual, and almost

imperceptible. Light comes to the soul through God’s word, through

His servants, or by the direct agency of His Spirit; but when one

ray of light is disregarded, there is a partial benumbing of the spiritual

perceptions, and the second revealing of light is less clearly

discerned. So the darkness increases, until it is night in the soul.

Thus it had been with these Jewish leaders. They were convinced

that a divine power attended Christ, but in order to resist the truth,

they attributed the work of the Holy Spirit to Satan. In doing this

they deliberately chose deception; they yielded themselves to Satan,

and henceforth they were controlled by his power.

Closely connected with Christ’s warning in regard to the sin

against the Holy Spirit is a warning against idle and evil words.

The words are an indication of that which is in the heart. “Out of

the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.” But the words are

more than an indication of character; they have power to react on

the character. Men are influenced by their own words. Often under

a momentary impulse, prompted by Satan, they give utterance to

jealousy or evil surmising, expressing that which they do not really

believe; but the expression reacts on the thoughts. They are deceived

by their words, and come to believe that true which was spoken at

Satan’s instigation. Having once expressed an opinion or decision,

they are often too proud to retract it, and try to prove themselves in

the right, until they come to believe that they are. It is dangerous

to utter a word of doubt, dangerous to question and criticize divine

light. The habit of careless and irreverent criticism reacts upon

the character, in fostering irreverence and unbelief. Many a man

indulging this habit has gone on unconscious of danger, until he

was ready to criticize and reject the work of the Holy Spirit. Jesus

said, “Every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account

thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be

justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.”

Then He added a warning to those who had been impressed by

His words, who had heard Him gladly, but who had not surrendered

themselves for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. It is not only by

resistance but by neglect that the soul is destroyed. “When the

unclean spirit is gone out of a man,” said Jesus, “he walketh through

dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none. Then he saith, I will

return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come,

he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh

with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they

enter in and dwell there.”

There were many in Christ’s day, as there are today, over whom

the control of Satan for the time seemed broken; through the grace

of God they were set free from the evil spirits that had held dominion

over the soul. They rejoiced in the love of God; but, like the stony-

ground hearers of the parable, they did not abide in His love. They

did not surrender themselves to God daily, that Christ might dwell

in the heart; and when the evil spirit returned, with “seven other

spirits more wicked than himself,” they were wholly dominated by

the power of evil.

When the soul surrenders itself to Christ, a new power takes

possession of the new heart. A change is wrought which man can

never accomplish for himself. It is a supernatural work, bringing a

supernatural element into human nature. The soul that is yielded to

Christ becomes His own fortress, which He holds in a revolted world,

and He intends that no authority shall be known in it but His own. A

soul thus kept in possession by the heavenly agencies is impregnable

to the assaults of Satan. But unless we do yield ourselves to the

control of Christ, we shall be dominated by the wicked one. We

must inevitably be under the control of the one or the other of the

two great powers that are contending for the supremacy of the world.

It is not necessary for us deliberately to choose the service of the

kingdom of darkness in order to come under its dominion. We

have only to neglect to ally ourselves with the kingdom of light. If

we do not co-operate with the heavenly agencies, Satan will take

possession of the heart, and will make it his abiding place. The only

defense against evil is the indwelling of Christ in the heart through

faith in His righteousness. Unless we become vitally connected

with God, we can never resist the unhallowed effects of self-love,

self-indulgence, and temptation to sin. We may leave off many bad

habits, for the time we may part company with Satan; but without

a vital connection with God, through the surrender of ourselves to

Him moment by moment, we shall be overcome. Without a personal

acquaintance with Christ, and a continual communion, we are at the

mercy of the enemy, and shall do his bidding in the end.

“The last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so,” said

Jesus, “shall it be also unto this wicked generation.” There are none

so hardened as those who have slighted the invitation of mercy, and

done despite to the Spirit of grace. The most common manifestation

of the sin against the Holy Spirit is in persistently slighting Heaven’s

invitation to repent. Every step in the rejection of Christ is a step

toward the rejection of salvation, and toward the sin against the Holy

Spirit.

In rejecting Christ the Jewish people committed the unpardonable

sin; and by refusing the invitation of mercy, we may commit

the same error. We offer insult to the Prince of life, and put Him

to shame before the synagogue of Satan and before the heavenly

universe when we refuse to listen to His delegated messengers, and

instead listen to the agents of Satan, who would draw the soul away

from Christ. So long as one does this, he can find no hope or pardon,

and he will finally lose all desire to be reconciled to God.

While Jesus was still teaching the people, His disciples brought

the message that His mother and His brothers were without, and

desired to see Him. He knew what was in their hearts, and “He

answered and said unto him that told Him, Who is My mother? and

who are My brethren? And He stretched forth His hand toward

His disciples, and said, Behold My mother and My brethren! For

whosoever shall do the will of My Father which is in heaven, the

same is My brother, and sister, and mother.”

All who would receive Christ by faith were united to Him by

a tie closer than that of human kinship. They would become one

with Him, as He was one with the Father. As a believer and doer of

His words, His mother was more nearly and savingly related to Him

than through her natural relationship. His brothers would receive no

benefit from their connection with Him unless they accepted Him as

their personal Saviour.

What a support Christ would have found in His earthly relatives

if they had believed in Him as one from heaven, and had co-operated

with Him in doing the work of God! Their unbelief cast a shadow

over the earthly life of Jesus. It was a part of the bitterness of that

cup of woe which He drained for us.

The enmity kindled in the human heart against the gospel was

keenly felt by the Son of God, and it was most painful to Him in

His home; for His own heart was full of kindness and love, and He

appreciated tender regard in the family relation. His brothers desired

that He should concede to their ideas, when such a course would have

been utterly out of harmony with His divine mission. They looked

upon Him as in need of their counsel. They judged Him from their

human point of view, and thought that if He would speak only such

things as would be acceptable to the scribes and Pharisees, He would

avoid the disagreeable controversy that His words aroused. They

thought that He was beside Himself in claiming divine authority,

and in placing Himself before the rabbis as a reprover of their sins.

They knew that the Pharisees were seeking occasion to accuse Him,

and they felt that He had given them sufficient occasion.

With their short measuring line they could not fathom the mission

which He came to fulfill, and therefore could not sympathize with

Him in His trials. Their coarse, unappreciative words showed that

they had no true perception of His character, and did not discern

that the divine blended with the human. They often saw Him full

of grief; but instead of comforting Him, their spirit and words only

wounded His heart. His sensitive nature was tortured, His motives

were misunderstood, His work was uncomprehended.

His brothers often brought forward the philosophy of the Pharisees,

which was threadbare and hoary with age, and presumed to

think that they could teach Him who understood all truth, and comprehended all mysteries. They freely condemned that which they

could not understand. Their reproaches probed Him to the quick,

and His soul was wearied and distressed. They avowed faith in God,

and thought they were vindicating God, when God was with them

in the flesh, and they knew Him not.

These things made His path a thorny one to travel. So pained

was Christ by the misapprehension in His own home that it was a

relief to Him to go where it did not exist. There was one home that

He loved to visit,—the home of Lazarus, and Mary, and Martha; for

in the atmosphere of faith and love His spirit had rest. Yet there were

none on earth who could comprehend His divine mission, or know

the burden which He bore in behalf of humanity. Often He could

find relief only in being alone, and communing with His heavenly

Father.

Those who are called to suffer for Christ’s sake, who have to

endure misapprehension and distrust, even in their own home, may

find comfort in the thought that Jesus has endured the same. He is

moved with compassion for them. He bids them find companionship

in Him, and relief where He found it, in communion with the Father.

Those who accept Christ as their personal Saviour are not left

as orphans, to bear the trials of life alone. He receives them as

members of the heavenly family; He bids them call His Father their

Father. They are His “little ones,” dear to the heart of God, bound

to Him by the most tender and abiding ties. He has toward them an

exceeding tenderness, as far surpassing what our father or mother

has felt toward us in our helplessness as the divine is above the

human.

Of Christ’s relation to His people, there is a beautiful illustration

in the laws given to Israel. When through poverty a Hebrew had

been forced to part with his patrimony, and to sell himself as a

bondservant, the duty of redeeming him and his inheritance fell to

the one who was nearest of kin. See Leviticus 25:25, 47-49; Ruth

2:20. So the work of redeeming us and our inheritance, lost through

sin, fell upon Him who is “near of kin” unto us. It was to redeem

us that He became our kinsman. Closer than father, mother, brother,

friend, or lover is the Lord our Saviour. “Fear not,” He says, “for I

have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art Mine.”

“Since thou wast precious in My sight, thou hast been honorable,

and I have loved thee: therefore will I give men for thee, and people

for thy life.” Isaiah 43:1, 4.

Christ loves the heavenly beings that surround His throne; but

what shall account for the great love wherewith He has loved us?

We cannot understand it, but we can know it true in our own experience.

And if we do hold the relation of kinship to Him, with what

tenderness should we regard those who are brethren and sisters of

our Lord! Should we not be quick to recognize the claims of our

divine relationship? Adopted into the family of God, should we not

honor our Father and our kindred?