Transcribed from the 1878, (third) Hatchards edition by David Price,
email ccx074@pglaf.org
Sanctification
* * * * *
BY THE
REV. EDWARD HOARE, M.A.
_Vicar of Trinity_, _Tunbridge Wells_; _and Hon. Canon of Canterbury_.
* * * * *
Third Edition, Enlarged.
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LONDON:
HATCHARDS, PICCADILLY.
1878.
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LONDON:
PRINTED BY JOHN STRANGEWAYS,
Castle St. Leicester Sq.
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PREFACE.
THE following pages contain the substance of some Sermons preached in the
course of my parochial ministry, on the subject of Sanctification, and
are published at the request of several members of my congregation.
They contain nothing new, and, being parochial sermons, they are not in
the form of a systematic treatise. But I hope they exhibit the doctrine
of Sanctification as revealed in Scripture, as embodied in the teaching
of the Church of England, and as preached by those who are generally
termed the Evangelical Clergy.
They are not so much controversial as practical. My desire has not been
to discuss new opinions, but to bring out old truths. I shall be truly
thankful if this shall prove to have been done; and I commit them to God,
with the earnest prayer that He may make them useful, by the power of the
Holy Spirit, to those who long for the fulfilment of the prayer of their
most blessed Saviour,—‘Sanctify them through Thy truth, Thy Word is
truth.’
E. H.
TUNBRIDGE WELLS.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
SEPARATION UNTO GOD 1
LEGAL CLEANSING:
SANCTIFICATION THROUGH BLOOD 14
THE CLEANSING BLOOD 27
PERSONAL HOLINESS:
THE SANCTIFIED 40
PROGRESS 50
INFECTION OF NATURE 64
GRACE 78
HOLINESS THROUGH FAITH 91
CONSECRATION 103
PRAYER 117
GOD’S NAME SANCTIFIED 132
EXPOSITORY NOTES:
ROMANS, VII. 143
1 JOHN, III. 6 146
THE WORD ‘PERFECT’ 149
TEMPTATION, HEB. IV. 15 152
DOCTRINAL NOTES 154
SEPARATION UNTO GOD.
‘Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through
sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the
blood of Jesus Christ; Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.’—1
PET. i. 2.
It is one of the encouraging features of the present day that many of the
Lord’s people are aiming at a higher standard of Christian holiness than
they have ever yet known, and are looking to the great grace of their
most blessed Saviour to raise them by His Spirit above the various
hindrances which have hitherto impeded their progress. They desire that
there should be no impediment in the service of their blessed Saviour.
In their worship they would draw very near to Him, and in their life they
would glorify His name. But yet, when they seek to do so, and when they
fairly look at God’s character, God’s claims, God’s will, and God’s
glory, they find reason to be humbled to the dust; and the more they
realize His infinite mercy in Christ Jesus, the more they learn of the
magnitude and multitude of their own shortcomings. Thus it sometimes
comes to pass that in many true believers their greatest discouragements
are intimately connected with their efforts after holiness, and many of
their doubts and difficulties arise from their real desire for true
sanctification. The more that they aim at the holiness of God, the more
they feel their sin, and the more earnestly that they strive to rise, the
more keenly do they feel the pain and humiliation of the ruin of their
fallen nature. It is important therefore for those who desire holiness
to look carefully into the teaching of Scripture on the great subject of
Sanctification; to examine what is really promised, and to learn what the
Word of God teaches us to expect. Does it, or does it not, make
provision for such difficulties? And if it does, what is the provision?
These are some of the questions which I desire now to consider, and I
hope it may please God to fulfil to both writer and reader the prayer of
the Apostle: ‘The very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God
your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the
coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.’
Now one of the great difficulties of the subject is, that in all
languages certain words are employed to express more than one idea, and
that the idea connected with the word often changes as time advances. To
a certain extent this applies to the word ‘sanctification’ in sacred
Scripture. It has no less than four distinct meanings in the Word of
God; and, if we treat them all as if they were the same, we are sure to
be confused. It has its original sense, and three others that have grown
out of it. The original sense is separation unto God, or dedication; and
the three that have grown out of it are legal cleansing, personal
holiness, and the exaltation of the holiness of God. If therefore we
wish to understand the teaching of Scripture, we must clearly examine the
use of the word in these four senses. May the Lord Himself help us to do
so!
If we turn then to the beginning, we shall find that the original sense
of the word ‘to sanctify’ is to set apart unto God.
So in the Old Testament the Hebrew is frequently rendered ‘to hallow,’ or
to set apart as a holy thing.
In this sense it is used of the Sabbath (Gen. ii. 3): ‘God blessed the
seventh day, and sanctified it.’ He separated it from the ordinary
purposes of common life, and set it apart as a day peculiar to Himself.
So again the first-born were set apart unto God, and therefore said to be
sanctified; as we read, Exod. xiii. 2: ‘Sanctify unto Me all the
first-born—both of man and of beast: it is mine.’ So of the Temple, God
said (2 Chron. vii. 16), ‘I have chosen and sanctified this house, that
my name may be there for ever.’ The same is said of the priests, the
vessels of the sanctuary, and the lamb taken from the flock for
sacrifice: they were all separated unto God, and thus said to be
sanctified. It is in this sense that our blessed Saviour made use of the
word, when He said in John, xvii. 19, ‘For their sakes I sanctify
myself.’ No one can suppose for one moment that He made Himself more
holy, or cleansed Himself from actual sin, for He had been from all
eternity holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners. There was
no possibility of any increase of holiness in Him. But He did, from the
deep love that filled His heart, set Himself apart unto God, to be the
one perfect sin-offering for man. As the lamb was sanctified when it was
taken from the flock, and set apart for sacrifice, so did He sanctify
Himself when He separated Himself from all human fellowship, and, as one
set apart unto God, bore alone the whole burden of human guilt.
Now, this is the sense in which the word is used whenever sanctification
is spoken of as something past, or complete. There are passages in which
it is described as the past act of God, as, _e.g._ Jude, 1, where God’s
people are spoken of as being, or having been, ‘sanctified by God the
Father;’ and 2 Thess. ii. 13, where they are described as having been
‘chosen to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of
the truth.’ The reason is, that they have already been set apart by the
Holy Ghost as a peculiar people unto God. They have been like a branch
of the wild olive, cut out from the old tree, and engrafted into the new.
That grafting into Christ involved a separation, for it implied a cutting
out as well as a grafting in; and therefore, whenever a soul has been
incorporated into Christ, there has been in this sense an act of
sanctification, or, in other words, of separation unto God. Such
passages do not refer to personal holiness; but to the past act of God in
separating His elect unto Himself. I have no doubt that this is the
meaning of the text. We all know that the work of holiness is the
consequence of the gift of pardon. It is not till we are forgiven
through the great blood-sprinkling that the real work of holiness begins.
But in these words sanctification comes before it, and the sprinkling of
the blood is described as the result of the sanctifying act. The reason
is, not that this verse is at variance with the rest of Scripture,—God
forbid the thought,—but that the word sanctification does not here
express our growth in personal holiness, but means God’s great act of
separation unto Himself by the mighty power of the Holy Ghost. As the
Sabbath was set apart unto God, so have we been set apart if we be in
Christ Jesus: and it is both our privilege and duty to regard ourselves
as chosen out of the world and now belonging, as a peculiar people, unto
God. It is with reference to this act of separation that the Apostle
addresses God’s people in the words, ‘Elect according to the
foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit,
unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto
you, and peace be multiplied.’
If we take the word in this sense the passage will throw a flood of light
on three important subjects: the origin of this separation, its result,
and the power by which it is accomplished.
* * * * *
I. Its ORIGIN. This is very clearly the electing love of God. The
sanctification, or separation here described, is the application of God’s
electing love to the individual. Our Lord says (John, x. 16) of us
Gentiles, ‘Other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I
must bring.’ In the loving purpose of God they were His when He spoke;
but they were at that time either not yet born, or still living in
heathenism, He said, ‘Them also I must bring.’ In other words, those who
were His by the eternal covenant He must in due time separate unto
Himself; and that separation, or that bringing, is the sanctification
here described. It is that great act of God in which He carries into
effect, or applies, His own eternal purpose.
And think what a stability this gives to the work! If it were the result
of our own will it must be liable to all the failures inseparable from
the weakness of our will; but as it is the carrying out of His own
eternal purpose, it is unchangeable, because it is divine. Man-made
conversions soon fall to pieces; but when God calls and separates His own
elect, it is for ever. He incorporates them into Christ, and they are
one with Him for all eternity.
Ah, brethren, if you be in Him, you may be exposed to many, and strong
temptations; you may be obliged to tread in slippery places, and find
your feet very weak under their burden; but in the midst of it all you
may rely, not merely on daily mercy, but also on everlasting love; and
may take courage in the assurance that, as He changeth not, so you will
be kept by His power through faith unto salvation.
* * * * *
II. The passage teaches us also the RESULT. This great result is
conversion, as taught us in the words, ‘unto obedience, and sprinkling of
the blood of Jesus Christ.’ I can scarcely imagine a better description
of the character and blessings of conversion than that contained in these
words, for they present it to us in a double aspect,—on the one hand
surrender, and on the other pardon.
Surrender. This is the meaning of obedience, in the passage. It must
not be confounded with the holy and loving obedience of the child of God
walking in his Father’s footsteps, for it is rather the surrender of the
once rebellious heart when it receives Christ as its Saviour and King.
It is the obedience described in Acts, vi. 7, where it is said that ‘a
great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.’ It was the
faith to which they were obedient: not the law. They received the
message of life, and yielded themselves unto the Lord. It is the
obedience of Saul of Tarsus, when, having hated, opposed, and persecuted,
he gave up in complete surrender, and said, ‘Lord, what wilt Thou have me
to do?’ And here lies the great difficulty with a great number. If
there be the true separation unto God, there must be surrender, for it is
a sanctification unto obedience; and there is no denying that the heart
oftentimes recoils from it. Oh, how near have some come,—how beautifully
near! almost like the young man whom Jesus loved. But that young man
went back after all. He went away very sorrowful; but still he went. I
hope you may not do the same! But I stand in doubt of some of you, for
though almost, you are not yet altogether: though near, you are not
within; though earnest, not yet safe. And why? There is no submission:
you cannot give up. There are old prejudices, old thoughts, old likes
and dislikes, old confidences; and you cannot make up your mind to give
all up, and to surrender your whole soul into the hands of your Lord and
Saviour.
Yet think what a blessing there is connected with such surrender: nothing
less than ‘the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ.’ That sprinkling
is the personal application of the great atonement to the individual
soul. The shedding of the blood was a public act, which might or might
not be effectual to individuals; but the sprinkling of it is altogether a
personal matter. It is the application to the individual of the great
atonement made for every man. So that those who are thus sanctified, or
set apart unto God, are set apart unto the sacred privilege of having
their sins blotted out for ever; and those who have been brought by the
Holy Ghost to the obedience of the faith, are in their own souls
sprinkled with the blood of Christ. Not only do they know that there is
a fountain open for sin and for uncleanness, but they themselves are
cleansed by it, and walk before God in the sacred peace of full
forgiveness and perfect love.
Oh, how is it that there can be any backwardness in thus surrendering to
Christ! Do you not thirst for that sacred fellowship? Do you not long
to be able to say, ‘Who hath washed me from my sins in His own blood?’
Is there any blessedness to be compared to that of having sin blotted out
for ever? Why, then, do you still hold back? Why not give up, and just
cast yourself, ruined and helpless, into the arms of your Saviour, that
His own most precious blood may be sprinkled on your soul, and that by
His great grace you may be His, and His for ever?
* * * * *
III. But we must hasten to our last subject: the AUTHOR of this most
blessed change. This is distinctly said to be the Spirit. ‘The
sanctification of the Spirit,’ as in 2 Thess. ii. 14.
Observe, in passing, how all the three persons of the Holy Trinity appear
in the verse. There is the foreknowledge of God the Father, the
sprinkling of the blood of the Son, and the sanctifying power of the Holy
Ghost.
It is from such passages as these that the answer in the Church Catechism
is derived: ‘I believe in God the Holy Ghost, who sanctifieth me, and all
the elect people of God.’ Every branch or department of sanctification
is His work. The original call, the progressive struggle, and the final
victory, are all alike by His power. It was when the Holy Ghost
descended at Pentecost that ‘the Lord added to the Church daily such as
should be saved;’ and it is just in proportion as the same Holy Ghost
puts forth His power now that souls are separated unto God. There is no
real sanctification of any kind whatever unless it be the sanctification
of the Spirit. If it is brought about by religious machinery, or any
inferior agency, it is not the real thing, and will never lead to the
real result. I am most anxious to press this upon you, for I think there
is great danger of Christian people losing sight of it. Some people seem
to think that everything depends on certain men or certain plans: but you
cannot save souls by planning. We cannot bear this in mind too strongly
with reference to those missions and mission preachers which are now
exciting the deep interest of multitudes. I attach a very high value to
those mission efforts: I have engaged in them myself, and I believe the
Holy Ghost gave His blessing. But it is not a mission week, nor a
mission preacher, that can sanctify or set apart souls unto God: it is
God the Holy Ghost working in the heart, breaking down the old man, and
constraining the soul to the obedience of the faith. Let no one then
wait for a mission week or a revivalist preacher, in looking out for
great results. The Holy Spirit is not limited, as some seem to think, to
extraordinary means, or extraordinary agencies. It was when the Churches
had settled down quietly in their quiet Christian life, that it was said
of them that, ‘Walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the
Holy Ghost, they were multiplied.’ So we may look for this sanctifying
power of the Holy Ghost to accompany our quiet Christian work; and I do
look for it, and more than that, I thank God for having granted it in a
most remarkable manner in these latter days. We will not wait then for
some future great occasion. No, indeed: we will not wait even for the
morrow. We will look for the mighty power of the Holy Ghost now; this
day, this hour, before we part. How many are there amongst us still
unsaved! How many that have not yet surrendered to their Lord! Oh, come
then, Mighty Spirit: come! Come in power: come at once! Come to
subdue,—come to quicken,—come to sanctify,—come to save!
LEGAL CLEANSING.
SANCTIFICATION THROUGH BLOOD.
‘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.
IT is impossible to think too much of the most precious blood of our most
blessed Lord and Saviour. It throws its sacred power over every
department of our Christian life. Our pardon, our peace, our communion,
and our holiness, are all dependent on that most precious blood. Lose
sight of the blood of Christ, and you lose sight of the very essence of
your Christianity.
Our subject to-day is Sanctification through blood. There are three
passages in the Epistle to the Hebrews in which we find a reference to
such a sanctification: viz., x. 29,—‘Hath counted the blood of the
covenant wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing;’ xiii.
12,—‘Wherefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own
blood, suffered without the gate;’ and ix. 13,—‘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?’
I think we must all admit that these passages do not convey to us the
idea of either separation unto God, or of imparted holiness by the
indwelling of the Holy Ghost. They seem rather to refer to the legal
result of blood-shedding, or sacrifice. So I believe they do; and if we
would know the real meaning of sanctification in the Word of God, we must
not be carried away by the recurrence of a familiar word, but pause to
study carefully its real use in this Epistle.
Our first duty then will be to examine what is meant in these passages by
the Sanctification through blood. And after having ascertained its
meaning, we may proceed to consider its wondrous power.
First, then, what is meant by it?
I am not aware that the expression is ever met with in any portion of the
New Testament except the Epistle to the Hebrews, and this may at once
suggest the idea that it has a Levitical signification. The great object
of that Epistle is to expound the types of the book of Leviticus, and to
show their fulfilment in our most blessed Saviour. Accordingly in two
out of the three passages there is a direct reference to the ancient
types. It is therefore only natural to expect that the phraseology
employed in the Book of Leviticus, respecting the types, will reappear in
the exposition of those types in the Epistle. And if we would understand
the Epistle, we must learn from the Book of Leviticus what was the nature
of that sanctification which was effected through blood in the law of
types.
Some people seem to think that these sacrifices produced no result except
in so far as they pointed typically to the Lord Jesus. But I do not
think they will find that opinion borne out in Scripture. They will find
there that, in addition to their typical and prophetic character, these
sacrifices were, at the time of their being offered, effectual in God’s
purpose for the bestowal of certain most important blessings. Thus this
passage says, ‘If the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an
heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the
flesh:’ the blood then of bulls and of goats did actually ‘sanctify to
the purifying of the flesh.’
There was a certain act of sanctification there and then wrought through
the application of that blood. It was not merely that in it through
faith believers laid hold on the future atonement by the coming Saviour,
but there was something done for them at the time; so that after the
sacrifice they were in a position different to that in which they stood
before it.
Take the two cases referred to in this verse. First, there is the
sprinkling of the blood of the bullock, as on the day of atonement. On
that occasion the altar was sprinkled with the blood. (Levit. xvi. 19.)
Now the altar was not actually purified by the sprinkling, as if it had
been washed with water. Yet you read, ‘He shall sprinkle of the blood
upon it—and cleanse it, and hallow,’ or sanctify, ‘it from the
uncleanness of the children of Israel.’ In that case the altar was
cleansed from legal guilt. In consequence of its contact with the sin of
guilty man it was regarded before God as an unclean thing, and by the
sprinkling of blood it was sanctified, or legally cleansed. Before the
sprinkling it was polluted, but afterwards it was clean, or, in other
words, all legal impurity was removed.
The purifying of the flesh by the sprinkling of the ashes of an heifer
was of exactly the same character. The clearest account of it is given
in Num. xix., the passage to which the Apostle apparently refers. There
you find the description of certain persons who were accounted unclean:
as, _e.g._, those who had touched a dead body. And those persons, being
unclean, were cut off from the sanctuary. But when, after seven days,
they were sprinkled with the ashes of the heifer, their legal uncleanness
was removed, and they were restored to the congregation as clean persons.
They were not really more pure than they were before, but they were no
longer accounted as defiled, and thus they were reinstated into all their
privileges.
The sprinkling of blood and of the ashes, therefore, did produce a real
result. It did not change the inward state of the heart, but it did
alter the position. It was God’s appointed ordinance for the removal of
legal guilt; and it did remove it. It was effectual for its purpose, and
after it had taken place the uncleanness was no more: it might soon
accumulate again, and become possibly worse than ever; but the past
defilement was gone, and the unclean man was clean.
But it did not touch the heart or conscience. It was an outward act
affecting the outward person, and restoring a man to the sanctuary and
congregation; but, if his heart was broken by the bitter sense of
indwelling sin, it could not restore him to God: if his conscience was
grieved by the bitter memory of sad sin, the ashes of the heifer could
not heal that. Suppose a man had something weighing on his conscience:
he might bring his kid to the altar; but unless he was able in that
sacrifice to see the coming Christ, he would have the bitter pain of past
transgression still festering in his heart. He might be sprinkled with
the ashes of the heifer, and take his place in the sanctuary of God as if
all was right; but that would not take away his burden. If that were all
he would go back from the sanctuary with a heavy heart. He would be just
like thousands amongst ourselves who have experienced the utter failure
of any external remedy for the wounded conscience. They have been
through the whole outward routine of a correct Christianity,—prayers,
Bible reading, Church services, sacraments,—and you may truly say they
are sanctified according to the flesh. But there is a heartache still
within the soul; there is an uncleanness there too deep to be touched by
anything external,—so deep that it baffles every effort to cleanse it,
and appears to rise with fresh power at the very time that they endeavour
to apply their remedy. It is this that has always been the great
difficulty in our endeavours to serve the living God, for till this
burden is removed it is sure to keep us in a position of bondage and
inability. I once saw some poor prisoners driven to their work with a
long and heavy chain riveted on their ankles; and what heart or power
could they have for service? And what power can he have who is toiling
on in dreary discouragement with the chain of unforgiven sin riveted on
his soul? It is only the free man that can walk with God and serve Him.
And now let us turn back to the text, and see how it deals with the
difficulty. It draws the contrast between the purifying of the flesh and
of the conscience, and it shows how the sprinkling of the ashes of the
heifer could accomplish the one, but how the precious blood of the Lord
Jesus Christ could alone affect the other; for it is that, and that
alone, that could ‘purge the conscience from dead works to serve the
living God.’ The reason is obvious. That atonement wrought out by Him,
was the atonement planned in the eternal covenant of God, and, when the
time came, completed on purpose to meet the case of all sin,—not merely
of outward acts, but the deep inward corruption of the heart; not merely
by external restoration, but by complete, internal restoration to God’s
love. It concerns the depths of the soul; and so completely blots out
all sin, that the soul itself, whatever it has been, is now in Him
spotless before God. This is the one secret both of peace and service.
Till your conscience is thus purged through the blood of Christ, you will
never know what it is really to serve the living God.
And now look at the great contrast of the text, and mark well the
difference between those sacrifices and ours.
The sacrifice in the type was of very little value. The poor kid was led
to the altar, and no one mourned its death; the poor scapegoat was left
alone in the wilderness, and no one gave it a thought: a few shillings,
or even pence, would replace it with another. It was picked out from the
flock by what we should call mere chance, and no one missed it
afterwards.
But how different is our Sacrifice! Consider for a moment the
description given of it in this verse.
* * * * *
(1) Our Lamb was ‘Christ,’ the Messiah, the Son of God! As St. Peter
said, ‘Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.’
(2) Our Sacrifice was offered in the eternal purpose of God; or,
according to the text, ‘through the eternal Spirit.’ It was not an
accidental selection, but a gift predetermined in the counsel of Jehovah,
so that He is described by St. Peter as ‘the Lamb slain from the
foundation of the world.’
(3) Our Sacrifice gave Himself as a freewill offering to God. ‘He
offered Himself.’ The calf, or the goat, was chosen by its owner, and,
when chosen, had no knowledge of anything that was before it: it had no
voice in the whole transaction, and knew nothing of what it was to bear.
But our Blessed Saviour, He foresaw the whole. He knew the whole burden;
He realised the whole sorrow; and keenly felt its bitterness. In His
human nature He shrank from the cup. It was so oppressive to Him that He
threw himself before God ‘with strong cryings and tears, and was heard in
that He feared.’ And yet, with the whole horror of the dreadful burden
fully before Him, and with the full and entire knowledge of what it was
to be forsaken of God, He was so resolute in carrying out the great plan
of the covenant of life, that He yielded up His own will, and offered
Himself as a sin-offering to God.
(4) Our Sacrifice was ‘without spot.’
It was required that the poor kid should be without blemish; partly to
show that God does not accept blemished gifts, but chiefly because it was
typical of the coming Christ. But the fact that there was no spot,
either within or without, did not add to its real value: the spotted kid
would have fetched as much as the unspotted, in the market. But when it
says of our Sacrifice that He was ‘a lamb without blemish and without
spot,’ what a tale it tells of His sinless holiness! His perfect
sinlessness had stood the test of the whole of pre-existent eternity. We
all know how first impressions of character become modified by time:
imperfections, unseen at first, soon begin to crop up; there are very few
of whom you can say that you have known them for twenty or thirty years,
and never heard a word escape their lips that you would be sorry to speak
in your dying hour. But there was a oneness for all eternity between the
Father and the Son; yet eternity itself could discover no flaw, so that
when the time came for the great sacrifice, He was without spot, even
before God. He that was the sin-bearer was Himself sinless; and if you
think what is involved in the statement that ‘He knew no sin,’ then you
may form some idea of the great fact that sin, even our sin, was imputed
to Him; or, in other words, that ‘God made Him to be sin for us.’
Looking then at the contrast between the sacrifices, the one, in
comparison to the other, is infinitely little. The poor calf, or kid,
was nothing,—far less than nothing in comparison of the Son of God.
There was nothing in it that could stand comparison for a moment. If you
look at the sacrifice of the Son of God, the voluntary offering through
the eternal Spirit of the spotless and Holy One, the sacrifice of the kid
vanishes. It disappears altogether; it is no more than a grain of dust
on the side of a mountain.
Yet those sprinklings under the law were effectual for their purpose.
There was no failure in them: they accomplished all for which they were
intended; every promise made respecting them was fulfilled. The legal
cleansing in all cases was complete.
Now then, I come to the point. If these sacrifices, so insignificant, so
valueless, and to the eye of man so powerless, were effective for their
purpose,—shall not that most marvellous wonder in the whole history of
the Godhead, the sacrifice of the Son of God, be effective for His? It
is true their concern was with the flesh, His with the conscience; but is
there any one prepared to say, ‘They never failed: but He may’? Can any
one of us admit for one moment, that the man who was sprinkled with the
ashes of an heifer was invariably reinstated as a clean man in the
sanctuary; and that there can be the least shadow of the possibility of a
doubt that the blood of Christ is completely restored to fellowship with
God?
Look at Him as the Son of God, as the anointed Messiah, as the Spotless
Lamb, as offering Himself in obedience to the Father’s eternal will; and
tell me, ye that cannot trust Him,—Can such a sacrifice as that fail?
Shall that which is infinitely little succeed, and that which is
infinitely great fail? Can you believe that the blood of a poor little
kid was sufficient, but the blood of the Son of God insufficient? Think
then of the ancient Jew walking home after his sacrifice, notwithstanding
all that had passed, now clean and reinstated. Then think of the most
precious blood of Christ, the Son of God, the Lamb slain before the
foundation of the world,—slain too for those very sins that weigh on the
conscience; and consider why should not you go home this day, as that Jew
did in ancient times, Free?—in the position of those described by St.
Paul, when he said, ‘Such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are
sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by
the Spirit of our God’?
THE CLEANSING BLOOD.
‘But 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.’—1 JOHN, i. 7.
IT should be the earnest desire of our hearts, in commemorating the great
facts of the crucifixion of our blessed Saviour, to know the fellowship
of His sufferings, and realise all that He endured. On this account it
is well to dwell on His wounds, His sorrows, His tears, His prayers, and
His bitter cry: but it is well to look also at the power of His precious
blood, and at the great results accomplished in the covenant of God by
that wonderful blood-shedding of the Son of Man.
I scarcely know which branch of the subject is the more important of the
two, and I propose to-day {27} to consider the latter, and to draw your
thoughts to the power of the blood, as taught us in these familiar and
most sacred words, ‘The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from
all sin.’ May God so teach us by His Spirit, that we may know in our own
experience the cleansing power of the blood of Christ!
There are two questions which will require our careful study, in order to
a right understanding of the text. To whom do the words apply? and what
do they mean?
To whom do they apply?
They are often applied in a loose and haphazard way to all kinds of
characters to whom they do not in the least belong, as drunkards,
Sabbath-breakers, and all descriptions of unconverted men. But the most
cursory glance at the text shows that it has no reference to such
characters, and applies exclusively to those who are walking in the
light. ‘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.’ The blessing is made in this text entirely
dependent on our walking in the light; and if we are not walking in the
light, it does not belong to us. The man who is still living the life of
the unconverted cannot claim it, for he has never known the light, and
his poor soul is still darkened by sin; nor can the backslider, who once
saw the light, and now has turned back into the darkness of the world;
for, though he was in the light once, he is not walking in it now.
There are other passages which apply to such persons, and invite them to
reconciliation through the precious blood of Christ: but this text does
not. It applies to those who have been brought into the light, and now
are walking in it; not seeking it, nor groping after it, but in it,—and
enjoying a holy fellowship both with God’s people and with God. There
cannot be a higher standard, or, to use modern terms, a higher life. It
is a life in the very presence of God Himself,—a life in which every step
is lightened by the sunbeam of His love. Fellowship, light, love, and
joy, abound through the whole of it. The persons possessing it are
happy, loving, peaceful believers, rejoicing in the sacred privilege of
companionship with God; and yet of them the text declares, ‘The blood of
Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.’
And now, what is meant by the expression ‘Cleanseth us from all sin?’ I
find that it is sometimes supposed to mean, ‘the inward cleansing of the
soul,’ or the purifying of the heart by the Holy Ghost, as in Acts, xv.
9: ‘Purifying their hearts by faith.’ But I know of no other passage of
Sacred Scripture in which this is the meaning of cleansing by blood;
whereas there are many in which it means the removal of all legal guilt,
as in Heb. ix. 13, 14, where the blood of the Jewish sacrifice is said to
‘sanctify to the purifying of the flesh,’ and the blood of Christ ‘to
purge the conscience from dead works to serve the living God.’ The word
in that passage in the Hebrews for ‘purging,’ is the same as here
rendered ‘cleanseth;’ and, if there were nothing in the context to decide
it, the general use of the language of Scripture would be sufficient.
But the context appears to leave no doubt on the subject. The ninth
verse clearly shows that the subject of the forgiveness of sin is the
subject of discussion: ‘If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just
to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.’ And
then in the opening of the next chapter you find the full explanation of
the text. The first two verses are in fact little more than an expansion
of it. The first verse sets before us the highest possible standard of
sinless holiness: ‘My little children, these things write I unto you,
that ye sin not.’ After which the Apostle proceeds to show the provision
which God has made for us under the sense of sin: ‘If any man sin we have
an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, and he is the
propitiation for our sin.’ This is an expansion of the short statement
of the text: ‘The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all
sin.’ It teaches of Christ Jesus, the righteous Advocate and the perfect
Propitiation; it shows that the blood is the blood of atonement, and the
cleansing the blotting out of the guilt of sin through the propitiation;
it points the contrite believer, deeply humbled for sin, to what is now
passing at the right hand of God, where the Son of God now stands as his
Advocate, having completed the sacrifice, and sprinkled the blood before
the mercy-seat. That sprinkled blood is the cleansing power, and the
cleansing is the blotting out of guilt so completely that the soul stands
before God as free from all legal pollution as if it had never been
defiled. It is perfectly true that there are other passages in which we
read of inward holiness as a purification of the heart: as _e.g._, 1
John, iii. 3. But that is quite a different thing to the cleansing
through blood described in our text, the real meaning of which is the
removal of all guilt from the guilty sinner by the transfer of it,
according to the covenant, to the great sin-bearer: ‘The Lamb of God that
taketh away the sins of the world.’
Now, this being the case, it appears to me that there are two great
practical conclusions which irresistibly follow:—
First, that those who are walking in the light have sin in them which
needs the cleansing blood. I know very well, and thank God for the
blessed assurance that ‘Sin shall not have dominion over you, for ye are
not under the law, but under grace.’ I know, too, that our blessed
Saviour is the great deliverer, and that He will so surely and so
effectually save His people from their sins, that every one of them,
without a single exception, will finally be presented without a single
spot, or stain, before His throne. But that is not the question. The
question is whether in saving us it pleases Him to put an end, while we
are in the flesh, to the deep corruption of our human nature, or to give
us invariably such a victory that we shall never have reason to repent
and deplore its power. If this verse stood alone it would decide the
point, for it shows the deep need of the cleansing blood, even for those
who are walking in the light. It describes two gifts as the sacred
privilege of their life in Christ Jesus: fellowship one with another, and
cleansing through the power of His blood. It proves, therefore, beyond
the possibility of doubt, that whatever meaning we attach to the word
‘cleanseth,’ there is sin which requires to be cleansed, even in those
who are walking in the light. But it does not stand alone, for the 8th
and the 10th verses explain to us the reason of the need: the one teaches
that we ‘have sin,’ and the other, that we ‘have sinned;’ the one speaks
of the deep corruption of our nature, the other of the action to which
this corruption has given rise; and both teach the same thing,—viz., that
those who are walking in the light have sin in themselves and in their
conduct,—sin which requires cleansing; that if ‘they say they have no
sin, they deceive themselves, and the truth is not in them;’ and ‘if they
say they have not sinned, they make Him a liar, and His word is not in
them.’
I believe then that the compilers of our Articles were walking in the
light when they wrote that, ‘The infection of nature doth remain, yea, in
them that are regenerated;’ that the compilers of our Prayer-book were
walking in the light when they taught us to confess, ‘We have left undone
those things which we ought to have done; and we have done those things
which we ought not to have done; and there is no health in us;’ and that
old Hooker was writing in the light when he said, ‘If God should yield
unto us, not as unto Abraham, if fifty, forty, thirty, twenty, yea, or if
ten good persons could be found in a city, for their sakes this city
should not be destroyed; but and if He should make us an offer thus
large; search all the generations of men since the fall of our father
Adam, find one man that hath done one action which hath passed from him
pure, without any stain or blemish at all; and for that one man’s only
action, neither man nor angel shall feel the torments which are prepared
for both. Do you think that this ransom to deliver men and angels could
be found to be among the sons of men? The best things which we do have
somewhat in them to be pardoned.’
But there is a second lesson: viz., that while there is the deep need,
there is the ample provision; for, although no ransom could be found
among the sons of men, there is a perfect ransom in the most precious
blood of the Son of God. The propitiation is complete, and, through the
wonderful mercy which God has shown in His covenant, that precious blood
cleanseth from all sin.
There are two points in this sentence to which I would draw your special
attention.
(1.) It is _all_ sin that is cleansed. Sin after baptism, as well as
sin before it; sin committed in the light, as well as sin in the days of
darkness; sin of omission, and sin of commission; sin of act, sin of
word, sin of thought, sin of temper, sin of desire, sin of heart, sin in
the acts of religion, and sin in daily life; sin that is not noticed as
it ought to be, and sin that leaves an inexpressible pain on the
conscience. It is all included in the one word ‘_all_.’ ‘The blood of
Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from _all_ sin.’
(2.) It is a continuous cleansing: that is, continued day by day as long
as the walk lasts. It is well explained by those words, John, xiii. 10:
‘He that is,’ or hath been, ‘washed needeth not save to wash his feet,
but is clean every whit.’ The first great washing took place when you
were first brought to Christ, as represented in your baptism; and now as
you are walking home through a defiling world, you require the continual
cleansing of the feet. And this is what is promised in the text. We are
walking, and the blood is cleansing. It might be rendered, ‘If we are
walking in the light, the blood is cleansing us from all sin.’ The walk
is continuous, and the cleansing continuous likewise. As we are taught
in the Lord’s Prayer to ask for daily forgiveness with the same
regularity as we ask for daily bread; so we are taught to trust the
cleansing power for every step of the daily life. Day after day, and
night after night, we return to the same fountain, and there experience
the same power; and so it will be to the end, when all this earthly
walking shall cease, and the ransomed spirit shall appear spotless before
God.
But let us not speak of the blood, and its cleansing power, without
remembering well what we mean by it. We do not mean the material blood
which flowed from the feet and hands, or trickled down his careworn face
from beneath the crown of thorns; nor that which after death gushed from
His pierced side; for we can never be sprinkled by that. Still less do
we mean what some suppose to be actual blood in the transubstantiated
cup. We mean nothing material: for nothing material can cleanse the
soul. We mean the sacrifice of the life of the Son of God as an
efficacious offering for the life of the sinner.
In the sacred history of that mysterious death, we read His bitter cry:
‘My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?’ This cry it is utterly
impossible to explain on any other principle than the imputation of sin.
I am not one of those that would dare to speak of impossibilities with
God. But when I think of the eternal and spotless holiness of the Lord
Jesus, of His perfect purity and His blameless life, I find it utterly
impossible to myself to imagine on what principle He could have been
forsaken at such a moment by one with whom he had been one for eternity,
if it had not been that sin, not His own, was imputed to Him; or in the
words of Sacred Scripture, that ‘The Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity
of us all.’ And then, when I turn to the dying cry, ‘It is finished,’ I
see the completion of the work. What He had undertaken He had borne:
what He covenanted to do was done. The covenanted ransom was paid; the
covenanted sacrifice offered; the covenanted life given; and then, the
burden being gone, He yielded up His soul into the Father’s hands, and
said, ‘Father, into Thy hands I commend my spirit.’ This explains what
we mean by the power of the cleansing blood. We mean the full and
perfect freedom given to all those who are in Christ Jesus; because He,
as their Head, has paid their penalty. We look on Him forsaken, and
believe that we shall never be. We look on Him bearing the full penalty
of the law, and we know that because He has borne it, the awful curse
will never rest on us. We listen to Him crying, ‘It is finished,’ and we
know that nothing more can be needed in sacrifice; that the whole
redemption as planned in God’s eternal purpose is complete; and that
therefore, as He did, so may we commend into a loving Father’s hand all
we are, and all we care for, saying, ‘Father, into Thy hands I commend my
spirit, for Thou hast redeemed me, O Lord God of truth.’ We need no
priest’s absolution; and we cannot endure the thought of any
continuation, or repetition, or any thing approaching to propitiatory
sacrifice. We believe that the whole work is finished according to the
purpose of God Himself, and that ‘the blood of Jesus Christ his Son,’
without any addition of any kind whatever,—simply and alone,—‘cleanseth
from all sin.’ Thus we agree, heart and soul, with the grand old words
of HOOKER: ‘Let it be counted folly, or frenzy, or fury, whatsoever, it
is our comfort, our wisdom; we care for no knowledge in the world but
this,—that man hath sinned, and God hath suffered; that God hath made
Himself the Son of Man, and that men are made the righteousness of God.’
PERSONAL HOLINESS.
THE SANCTIFIED.
‘Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are
sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in
every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both their’s
and our’s.’—1 COR. i. 2.
I HOPE it has been made clear that the original meaning of the word ‘to
sanctify,’ was ‘to set apart as a holy thing unto God,’ and that the
Levitical meaning of sanctification through blood was the cleansing from
all legal impurity. It is obvious that both these divine acts clearly
involve personal holiness.
That which is set apart by the call of God, and cleansed from all guilt,
should clearly be kept holy and undefiled from the pollution both of the
heart and of the world. Such persons should be like the vessels of the
sanctuary: ‘sanctified and meet for the Master’s use.’