Action Sermon

Preached in Knox’s Church, Glasgow, 11th April, 1852,

By Rev. JONATHAN RANKEN ANDERSON.

“The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.”
—I. John i. 7.

(Continued from p. 253.)

1. The application which the Holy Spirit makes of the blood of Christ to those that are capable subjects thereof includes various things.

(1) He regenerates the soul. The application of the blood of Christ begins here. And why? It was with a view to the regeneration of His people, that the Father agreeably to covenant arrangements, prepared for the Lord Jesus a body; that the Lord Jesus according to His covenant engagements assumed the body prepared for Him by the Father. It was with a view to their regeneration by the Holy Ghost that the Lord Jesus placed himself under the law, fulfilled all righteousness, and at last offered himself a sacrifice in the accursed death of the cross. It was with a view to their regeneration by the Holy Ghost, that He entered the most holy place, with His own blood. It was with a view to their regeneration that He ever lives to make intercession for those for whom He offered himself in sacrifice. And it is for their regeneration that the Holy Spirit according to the Father’s promise, and at the instance of the great Intercessor, comes forth.

You see, therefore, that to regenerate a sinner, to new-create him, and by this new creation to introduce him to the possession and enjoyment of all the benefits purchased by Christ, is an application of His blood. For sinners remain strangers to the saving benefits which flow from the blood of Christ, until they are regenerated. Yea, it is impossible to conceive how they can partake of any saving benefit whatever without regeneration. It has wrapt up in it all saving benefits, it is the seed whence the harvest of salvation in the soul grows. There will be nothing of a saving kind in this world, nothing of glory in the world to come enjoyed by the people of God, which may not be traced back to their regeneration; just as the fruits that are gathered from the trees of the field are to be traced to the germ whence they spring up. “Verily I say unto you, except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven” (Matt. xviii. 3). “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord” (Acts iii. 19).

(2) The Holy Spirit applies the blood of Christ to a sinner, in convincing him of his sin. In regeneration He imparts to him divine illumination. But this illumination is to be viewed as an application of the blood of Jesus Christ. There is not a ray of saving light enters the soul, but according to the arrangements of the everlasting covenant, and as the purchase of this precious blood. Not a ray of saving light enters the soul, but is the effect of the interceding maintained within the veil, upon the ground of the shedding of this blood. Not a ray of light enters the soul, without the work of Him, by whom, we have said, application from first to last is made of that blood.

The effect of divine illumination is to bring the soul to a discovery of Him with whom we have to do. For up to this time, He is, in His true nature, perfections and government, an unknown God. The soul knows Him not; and, in its enmity, is content to be without Him—”they say unto God, Depart from us; for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways” (Job xxi 14). The very spirit of the devil is in every man by nature. And just as those possessed with devils said to Him who is the brightness of the Father’s glory, “What have we to do with thee?” “Art thou come to torment us before the time?” so do sinners, actuated by a similar spirit say to the living and true God, their Creator, Preserver and Benefactor, “What have we to do with thee?” It may sound strange; nevertheless, it is true that a sinner should at once be ignorant of God, and full of enmity to Him—”Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart” (Eph. iv. 18).

The saving illumination of the Spirit of God, imparted, and in and by the truth, unveils to the regenerate eye somewhat of the being, perfection and glory of the God with whom we have to do. We will have to come to the knowledge of Him, one way or other, either here or hereafter. Oh children of men, you must come to know your Creator. But it will be a fearful thing, if you come to know Him only by standing before His throne of judgment, to be condemned, and punished by Him. Yet the only way in which the soul can be brought to a saving knowledge of Him, is by that peculiar spiritual light which is imparted to the regenerate soul, according to the word of God. To this there succeeds some apprehension of the law. The conscience is awakened, and guilt comes upon it as a burden. We do not deny that guilt may come upon a natural conscience; and that all the more heavily, if there be such light as it is capable of taking in with respect to spiritual things. But whatever pain may be felt by a natural conscience, it will be easily removed; whatever wounds may be inflicted in the natural conscience, they will easily be healed. “They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace” (Jer. vi. 14). We believe that none but a regenerate conscience is a capable subject of such burdens as can be removed by salvation; and of such wounds as can be closed and healed only by the blood of Christ. A conscience of this description alone suffers that peculiar pain and anguish which distresses the true people of God; for which the blood of Christ was shed, and for the cure of which it is applied.

Now what is there about a regenerate conscience that you do not find about a natural conscience? In a natural conscience you will never find aught of the light of the glory of Jehovah’s character: nor sympathy with His nature, perfections and will. You will not find in a natural conscience any true love to God. But in a regenerate conscience you will find all this. There is some light of the knowledge of the glory of God. There is the element of sympathy with the infinite beauty of the divine nature. There is love to Him because of the nature which He possesses and delight in Him because He is what He is.

Now, these elements influence the conscience, when, by the Spirit of God, the burden of guilt is laid upon it; and, in this case, there is that which it becomes the Lamb of God to remove by the application of His blood through the power of His Spirit. The creature is guilty before God, guilty before the eye of his own conscience: and if so you can easily see, he must be in a very miserable condition. Let favours be heaped upon him by his fellowmen; let them set a crown upon his head, place a sceptre in his hand, exalt him to a throne, and heap upon him all that human nature can enjoy of earthly happiness, do you not see that, if the Lord of the conscience be against him, and the servant of the Lord of the conscience be against him, the man of necessity will be miserable. And if a cure be not found he will be miserable through life and throughout eternity. “The Spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity; but a wounded spirit who can bear?” (Prov. xviii. 14). He becomes painfully alive to the evil nature that is in him, he sees something of his evil desert, and is led to enquire, “What must I do to be saved?” Is there any such conviction as this among you?

(3) The Holy Spirit makes application of the blood of Christ, in spiritual discoveries of Him as a Saviour. We must trace these to this as their primary cause. But for the blood of Jesus Christ, there would be no Saviour to be discovered; no Spirit promised to make the discovery, and no Word in the light of which, and by means of which, the discovery could be made. The Holy Ghost, in His regenerating power, implants faith in the soul. For there is the new creature: and what is needed afterwards is the development of the new creature according as occasion arises for its exercise. In this new creature you find saving faith. Now it is that which apprehends the Saviour, revealed to the soul by the spiritual illumination of the Holy Ghost. Till then, we may say he has heard of Him; but now the eye seeth Him. Till then, He may be said to be afar off, however near He may be in the Word, in the means, or in any other way in which He can be near, apart from what we now speak of. He may be said to be at an infinite distance from the soul, until He is brought near with faith, and faith embraces Him. By faith the soul sees the Saviour, embraces the Saviour, and is united to the Saviour.

The grace of faith sees Christ as a reality. But is not the Saviour of many a thing of nought? People perhaps could not tell where He is, nor anything about Him, they have never seen Him. The true Saviour is frequently hid from His people—they are sensible of this, and made to enquire, “Saw ye Him whom our souls love?” Sometimes the enquiry made by the poor soul is dashed by being met with the question, What is He? The soul is apt to think that, without naming Him, the reference made to Him will be understood by those around. Sometimes He hides himself long, and allows evils of various kinds to gather in upon the soul, so that it looks as if in no condition to receive Him: and doubts begin to arise whether He has ever been there at all. Sometimes the soul finds itself wax worse and worse; thieves and robbers come in and take possession of the soul; and seem to be allowed to revel in it at their pleasure: “it is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves” (Matt. xxi. 13). The soul is ready to conclude that as the temple was given up to destruction, so will it be with him who is left in such a case. He seems to see Ichabod written on all within and without; and in the desolation that reigns, he feels as it were the gloom of the second death: and there appears to be but a step between him and hell.

But, although the Saviour hides Himself for a season from His own people, He has purposes worthy of Himself to serve; and these He will accomplish: and in the end will satisfy them that He dealt wisely and well with them. He gives them even now tokens for good that this will be the issue; and thus strengthens them to wait patiently upon him. One thing which all this serves to bring out is that the soul is continually dependent upon the Lord Jesus for His presence. The disciples could not command Him to be at their side as they went to Emmaus: it was not till He pleased to draw near that they enjoyed the privilege of His company. Neither had they power to recognise Him when He did draw near—”their eyes were holden that they should not know Him” (Luke xxiv. 16)—until He discovered Himself unto them. When they were together in the room, and the door shut, very lonely and very disconsolate, they could not command Him into their midst as they pleased. There is a Saviour that people desire to have in their own keeping, in their own leading strings—little idols in heathen and popish temples, which sometimes are moved by a hidden mechanism, and go through their evolutions, under the hand of the priest who touches the springs by which the machinery is moved. So is it with many that are called by other names, who would be mightily offended were it insinuated that there is any affinity between them and heathen or popish idolators—they have Him whom they call a Saviour at their command.

And Jesus Christ, the true Saviour, requires His people to wait for Him; and wonderful to say He will not go away, even when they bid Him. A Prince in Israel remarks that the Lord is not very ready to pick a quarrel with His people: and they are made to wonder at His patience, and long-suffering with them, who have done more than enough to give Him away, yet His hand is about them still. “I am the Lord, I change not; therefore, ye sons of Jacob are not consumed” (Mal. iii. 6). He sometimes comes to show Himself for a little while, and then vanishes out of their sight. He sometimes shows Himself to stir up the affection of His people, and keep it alive; but disappears to try them, and also to preserve them from turning in upon their own affections, and feeding upon them. Better live in an absent Saviour by faith, than substitute the enjoyment of a present Saviour in the room of the Saviour Himself. When He comes into a soul, faith is stirred up to receive His as a Saviour—”I am come into my garden, my sister, my spouse: I have gathered my myrrh with my spice: I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk: eat, O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved” (Song. v. 1).

III. We have now only to consider the efficacy of the blood of Christ—”it cleanseth us,” saith the Apostle, “from all sin.” The persons then by whom this language is used are defiled—and defiled by sin: for otherwise it were impossible for them to be cleansed. We are thus led to notice in illustration of this part of our subject:

1. The necessity of being cleansed by the blood of Christ. We have frequently had occasion to refer to the fact that those for whom the blood of Christ was shed, and to whom, in the way we have pointed out, it is applied, are sinful creatures. By the powerful illumination of the Holy Ghost they are brought to a discovery of this fact: and by the circumcision of the heart they were rendered sensible of the shame and misery that attach to it. For, by nature, in common with their fellows, they have no proper sense of sin; they are not at all ashamed of the evil of their doings; they are not humbled in the sight of God; nor afraid of the fierceness of His anger; nor alarmed at being shut out—eternally shut out—from His presence and the glory of His power. But He who has a purpose of mercy towards them, and who gives effect to that purpose in their salvation does not suffer them to live contentedly in this condition. He breaks in upon their self-complacent ease, and strips them of their fancied excellence and worth, and shows them that, by reason of their sins original and actual, they are filthy in themselves and odious in His sight. “For thus saith the Lord God; I will even deal with thee as thou hast done, which hast despised the oath in breaking the covenant” . . . “then thou shalt remember thy ways, and be ashamed” (Ezek. xvi. 59, 61).

The sense of defilement which is implanted by the Spirit of grace, is kept alive by His continual operation on the soul. For as He is the immediate author of it, so He is its constant preserver; and not a moment can it subsist without Him. He makes use of the word as the instrument for this purpose. And most admirably is it fitted in all its branches for this end. For it is holy; it reveals the Holy One of Israel, it contains the holy law; it sets forth the holy gospel; it utters holy threatenings; gives holy firmness; opens up a holy heaven; and tells of a hell that burns with a holy fire. “The words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times” (Ps. xii. 6). Now when this word is opened up, and applied by the Holy Ghost; the gracious nature into which every believer is born is drawn forth into exercise. The man looks at himself in this powerful mirror, and is impressed with a deep sense of his own vileness: “Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King the Lord of Hosts” (Is. vi. 5).

But however lively and acute be the sense of defilement at times, it is liable to be blunted; through the secret prevalence of indwelling sin; through too close familiarity with the world and carnal profession; through an untender walk, a neglect of means, or the lust of other things. The Spirit of God is thus grieved; the light fades from the soul; and vain imaginations, or something worse takes the place of the blessed God, the concerns of the soul, and the business of eternity. Nor will a proper sense of sin be recovered till He restore the soul in rousing it from slumber by the sharp north wind of convictions; and filling with salutary fear lest it be cast off and left to perish in its pollutions; and impressing upon it the necessity of seeking nearness to Him from which it is revolted. For they shall be ashamed of the oaks which ye have desired, and ye shall be confounded for the gardens that ye have chosen” (Is. i. 29).

The uncleanness that is caused by sin is such as to turn away the face of God, and to provoke his displeasure. He is of purer eyes than to behold evil, and cannot look on iniquity. And yet, it is in the favour of this Holy God, that the life of the soul lies; it is in nearness to Him it can find a true resting-place; it is in fellowship with Him it has its proper employment. But from all this sin has excluded; because of the intrinsic turpitude that is in it—the irreconcilable hostility it breathes to the nature of God; and the intense opposition it offers to His will—the carnal mind being enmity against God, not subject to His law, neither indeed can be (Rom. viii. 7). The glory of Jehovah is His holiness and He hath infinite love of Himself and therefore infinite hatred of sin. And hence His jealousy burns like fire against this accursed thing and is sure to consume whatever is defiled by it. The Church of Ephesus is commended because she could not bear them that are evil. How worthy of praise is He of whom it is written: “The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou hatest all workers of iniquity” (Ps. v. 5).

Nor is the defilement of sin less effectual in unfitting the soul for the service, and enjoyment of God. We offend against His nature and law if we presume to approach Him in our uncleanness—”This is it that the Lord spake, saying, I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me, and before all the people will I be glorified” (Lev. x. 3). But we must do violence, besides, to our own consciences; either through ignorance and indecision or through reckless presumption. A man that is a partaker of the grace of God in truth, has a divine nature: and all its affections and sensibilities are holy. Now, it is only in the exercise of this nature he can approach to the Holy One of Israel. And if he be defiled he stops short; he cannot go on in this faith. His sin must be cleansed away or duty must be abandoned—”If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me” (Ps. lxvi. 18). We might illustrate the necessity of being cleansed by the blood of Christ from the judgment of the great day, the happiness of heaven, and the torments of hell. But omitting these, we notice:—

1. The nature of this cleansing. We have in previous parts of our discourse shown how the blood of Jesus Christ is shed, and also how it is applied to the soul. Now, supposing that in the case of those who are renewed into the faith of the Gospel application is made of the blood of Christ, it is said to cleanse them from all sin. For in the eye of Divine justice they appear as righteous, in virtue of the imputation to them of the surety righteousness of Him who in working it out was obedient unto death, or in other words shed His blood. We call this for the sake of distinction, legal cleansing; because, in the view of the law, and in reference to the legal condition of its subjects, they are clean—that is, their guilt is removed and their persons made acceptable in the sight of God—”there is, therefore, now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit” (Rom. viii. 1).

But, besides this, there is a process of actual purification begun in their souls. And that in virtue of the blood of Christ, which has in it the elements of deliverance from all sin and the entire conformity of the whole man with the image of God. We term this moral cleansing, because it extends to the moral nature which we possess; and fits it for those exercises and occupations for which that nature adorned with the divine likeness was originally given. In the view of the meritorious cause we refer this to the blood of Christ: for it is out of respect thereunto it is bestowed. And, further, it plays an important part in the means by which it is effectually produced, and carried forward to perfection. He that by the Holy Spirit truly acts faith in the blood of Christ will find that it as certainly frees him from the prevailing influence of sin; as those that acted faith in His power to heal, in the days of His flesh, were cured of whatsoever plague they had. “For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh; how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God” (Heb. ix. 13, 14).

We hardly need remark that no man will be alive to the necessity of such cleansing as we have described, unless by the Holy Ghost he is taught that he has to do with One who requires that they who worship Him shall be holy, even as He is holy. The nearer any man comes to Him, the more vivid the sense he has of what is due to Him; and the deeper his concern to walk so as to please Him; the more strongly will he feel his need of washing his hands in innocence and so compassing the altar of God. But these convictions are uniformly accompanied with a painful sense of defilement on account of the sin that dwells within him, and too frequently prevails against him. And hence it is that in proportion as he is kept alive to the beauty of Jehovah’s holiness; and has a desire to enter His courts as one of His worshippers; is he constrained by faith to make application of the blood of Christ; according to the application thereof that is made to him by the Holy Spirit. “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow” (Ps. li. 7). And hence the remarkable connection of the text—”if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another; and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin” (I. John i. 7).

1. We are thus brought to notice the extent of the cleansing—”from all sin.” The force of this expression will be realised by us, only in proportion to our acquaintance with sin—its vile nature, its varied forms, and its dreadful effects. To one who has no knowledge of sin, it will appear of no moment to be delivered from it. To him who has merely such apprehensions of it as the natural understanding can admit, and the natural conscience feel, deliverance will be a benefit of a comparatively light account. But he who is renewed in the spirit of his mind, who reckons sin infinitely evil; who finds that its tendency and effect is to shut out from God; to corrupt the heart; to ruin the soul; and above all who sees its meanness, in the light of Jehovah’s majesty; its crookedness in the light of His righteousness; its filthiness in the light of His purity; its fierceness in the light of His tenderness; its cruelty in the light of His kindness; and its turpitude in the light of His excellency—in a word, who sees that sin is the death of all that is God: and God is the death of all sin; he judges that to be cleansed from all sin must be an inestimable blessing and essential to the enjoyment of every other.

Now, it is to this extent the virtue of the blood of Christ carries; so that they who have it applied to their souls are cleansed from all sin. In a legal point of view, and in the eye of Divine justice, they are as if they had no sin—for their iniquities are blotted out, and the sentence of death that lay upon them is cancelled and they are acquitted from every charge of guilt that was brought against them. And not only so but they are held as righteous persons. The Lord their Righteousness—as law-fulfillers in Him the law-fulfilling Surety, as law honoured in Him who magnified the law and made it honourable. “He was delivered for our offences and raised again for our justification” (Rom. iv. 25).

And as to their personal character, the blood of Christ cleanses them from all sin in its reigning power. For there is no sin however strong which it is not able to subdue: and whatever be their number it will mortify them all. In the moment of its application by the Holy Ghost, the old man is crucified; and every part of him feels the shock. The cleansing has begun and it has begun in the whole soul—there is no sin as yet entirely subdued; but there is no sin allowed to reign. The reign of one sin is incompatible with the reign of grace, and the application of the blood of Christ. “He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are clean, but not all” (John xiii. 10).

1. A remark or two upon the consequences of being cleansed by the blood of Christ will close our illustration of this part of our subject. The soul is freed from the sentence of death, and declared an heir of eternal life. The enmity of the heart to God is slain and reconciliation with Him effected. The conscience is pacified; the way to communion with God opened; and a course begun which amidst fightings without and fears within is pursued until death is swallowed up in victory—”O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (I. Cor. xv. 55-57).

APPLICATION.

1. See the glory of the condescension and grace of the Son of God. Oh! what condescension is it in Him who is God to become man; in Him who is a Spirit to take flesh; in the law-giver to become a law subject; in Him who is entitled to demand and worthy to receive obedience; to render obedience; in Him who is the fountain of blessedness to become a curse! “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (I. John iv. 10).

2. We here see the infinite evil of sin. We are by nature ignorant of its evil, yea ready to trifle with it: and if left to ourselves, we that are born in sin, will die in our sins, and never feel the load. But our blindness and insensibility will not alter the nature of sin nor diminish its evil. Whether we know it or not, it lies upon us, and involves us in eternal consequences. Is there not need of an awakening amongst us; for the most seem dead in trespasses and sins? Whence is an awakening to come? From the blood of Christ. Everything else cries “Sleep on O sinner and take thy rest.”

Conscience bribed and stupefied says, sleep on and take thy rest. Abused and perverted means are crying, sleep on and take thy rest. The various errors which, in the present day, thrust aside the truth, and take its place, all unite in saying, sleep on and take your rest. The Church of Rome struggling so hard to regain her lost ascendency, says, from the Pope down to the most trifling ceremony, sleep on and take your rest. The kingdoms of Europe, though now shaken to their centre, in the various delusions under which they are labouring, and in the delusive influence which with such powerful effect they exert, are saying, sleep on and take your rest.

Oh, my friends, what is to become of us? Do you say, “We have the Word”? It has come to such a pass, that a spirit of deep sleep falling upon us has turned the Word itself to say, “Sleep on and take your rest”—so that sermons have little effect other than to lull men asleep. The Law, though admirably fitted to awaken, is yet through the spirit of slumber, turned into an occasion of crying, sleep on and take your rest. The Gospel, though fitted to awaken is, through the spirit of slumber, perverted into a cry, sleep on and take your rest. And the judgments of God seem to be saying too, sleep on. I shall have plenty of time to deal with you in eternity. His mercies even seem to be saying, sleep on and take your rest. And then, the people of God that have been taken away in such numbers seem to be saying by their removal to those left behind, sleep on and take your rest. The growing feebleness of His people that are left and their being driven into corners seem to be saying, sleep on and take your rest.

Whence is awakening to come? Oh whence? Cast your eyes within, without, and all around, “Sleep on” seems to be engraven on all. Oh! are we not very near a hopeless, an utterly hopeless condition? Can any get the length of seeing even a ray of hope? Is there any mercy for such a people? Is not this the generation of His wrath?

1. We here see the infinite preciousness of the blood of Christ. You will be saying, these are terrible things; yet the most terrible part of them is that they are true. Here is something in another strain, the infinite preciousness of the blood of Christ. Oh, what has it not done? It opened the everlasting fountains of the love of God to those that were His bitter enemies. It put unspeakable honour in every part of the law, precept and penalty, so that the honour as far abounded above the dishonour as God is exalted above the creature. It rendered full satisfaction to the justice of God, so that it says here—”this is my rest for ever; here will I stay for I do like it.” “God is gone up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet” (Ps. xlvii. 5).

Whither has He gone up? To His mercy seat, that which is sprinkled with the blood of Christ. It hath procured the whole revelation of His mind and will in the Scriptures: there is not a word in it but is the fruit of this blood-shedding. Every part of the mind of God, which his Spirit has made known is the fruit of this blood-shedding—its histories, its sacred songs, its prophecies, its doctrines, its exhortations, its promises, its very threatenings—all are the fruit of the blood of Christ. This world would have been an entire wilderness mantled in darkness, filled with terrors; every sight would have been galling to the eyes, every feeling would have been a racking pain, everything we took a rank poison, but for the blood of Christ. The ministry is the fruit of the blood of Christ. “Wherefore He saith, When He ascended up on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. And He gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ” (Eph. iv. 8, 11, 12). Every faithful exposition of the law in the ministry is from the blood of Christ. You do not get a powerful application of the law to your conscience but it is the fruit of the blood of Christ. Every Gospel invitation, every promise, every call, every encouragement offered is the fruit of the blood of Christ. Every saving conviction awakened in the soul by the Spirit of God is the fruit of the blood of Christ. Every discovery of the Saviour, every acting of faith upon Him, every exercise of repentance towards God is the fruit of the blood of Christ. All the affection which the Holy Spirit implants and nourishes, all hope, all humility, all peace, all love, all grace, all glory, all that adorns the church on earth, and all that blesses the church in heaven, all that is the fruit of the blood of Christ. Oh how precious must that blood be! None knows the preciousness of it but the Father. His people now and then catch glimpses of its preciousness, which make them willing to suffer the loss of all things: but in glory they shall have discoveries such as shall immeasurably transcend in degree, though the same in kind, any they obtain in this world. There never has been a sinner awakened, but it has been the fruit of the blood of Christ. There never has been a soul convicted, but it has been the fruit of the blood of Christ. There is never deliverance from bondage, freedom from condemnation, support to the sinking, peace to the troubled, a ray of hope to one in deep dejection, strength to the weak, but it is all the fruit of the death of Christ.

Now is there no encouragement here? You may well bear terrible things, if they serve to drive you to Christ. “Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us into Christ, that we might be justified by faith” (Gal. iii. 24). There is cleansing power in the blood of Christ when applied by the Spirit of grace. “He drew me with cords of love, with the bands of a man.” These cords are so to speak dipped in the blood of Christ, else no sinner would be drawn by them. They are the bands of of a man—bands prepared by the God-man, and fitted by His blood-shedding for being laid upon His people to bind them to Himself. There is a melting power in the blood of Christ applied by the Spirit of grace. “And I will pour upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and supplications and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced and they shall mourn for His as one mourneth for his only son and shall be in bitterness for him as one that is in bitterness for his first-born” (Zech. xii. 10). The heart is hard and refuses to be ashamed, until the Spirit of grace is poured out, then the eye catches glimpses of a pierced Saviour, the heart becomes like wax, and readily receives the impressions that are made upon it. Take the encouragement thus provided. “Trust in Him at all times; ye people pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us” (Ps. lxxii. 8).