Improvement Era, Vol. 58, No. 7, July 1955, p. 494; “Shedding innocent blood is spoken of in the scriptures as consenting to the death of Jesus Christ and putting him to shame. For those who have had the witness of the Holy Ghost, fighting with wicked hate against his authorized servants is the same, for if this is done to them, it is also done against him. For men who have had the light of the Holy Ghost to turn away and fight the truth with murderous hate, and those who are authorized to proclaim it, there is no forgiveness in this world, neither in the world to come.” — Joseph Fielding Smith
Ezekiel 13:6-9, 19, 22; “They have seen vanity and lying divination, saying, The LORD saith: and the LORD hath not sent them: and they have made others to hope that they would confirm the word. 7 Have ye not seen a vain vision, and have ye not spoken a lying divination, whereas ye say, The LORD saith it; albeit I have not spoken? 8 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye have spoken vanity, and seen lies, therefore, behold, I am against you, saith the Lord GOD. 9 And mine hand shall be upon the prophets that see vanity, and that divine lies: they shall not be in the assembly of my people, neither shall they be written in the writing of the house of Israel, neither shall they enter into the land of Israel; and ye shall know that I am the Lord GOD. 19 And will ye pollute me among my people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, to slay the souls that should not die, and to save the souls alive that should not live, by your lying to my people that hear your lies? 22 Because with lies ye have made the heart of the righteous sad, whom I have not made sad; and strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, by promising him life.”
Wow! The warning found in Ezekiel nailed it! The Lord perfectly described what was going on then, as well as now. In this passage we can clearly see how some things never change. Prophets, populations, and the names of ‘isms’ might change, but the depravity of man’s heart is ever the same. Thus, the Lord’s perfect foresight in knowing we’d need His word to guide us today.
Part of what Mr. Smith proclaimed from his pulpit is true. Jesus said there won’t be forgiveness for those who blaspheme the Holy Ghost. Matthew 12:31-32
Speaking against those who teach contrary doctrine to what God says in the Bible doesn’t qualify for blaspheming the HS. In fact, the Lord exhorts us in Jude 1:3-4 to contend for the faith because of false teachers!
“Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. 4 For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.”
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