SERMON UPON HEBREWS XII. 24. 119
Secondly, The next work is to sprinkle your hearts with this precious tlood ; for it is the blood of sprinkling that speaketh better things than the blood of Abel ; and Christ shed it that it might be sprinkled, that it may not run a-wasting. The sprinkling or applying of it to ourselves in particular is by the Spirit on God's part, and by faith on our part, and by the ordinances as a middle thing between both, as a means on God's part to convey the Spirit, and an help on our part to excite and increase faith. Therefore this sprinkling! must be interpreted with respect to the Spirit, faith, and the ordinances, as the word and sacraments.
1. Our duty with respect to the Spirit in this sprinkling is when we content not ourselves with a literal and exterior Christianity, with being christians in the letter rather than the spirit, Kom. ii. 29, but look after the virtue, power, and life of the truths which we do believe, when, together with the doctrine of Christ, we receive the sanctifying and comforting Spirit : Christianity is a thing without us, and at a distance, till that be done. The great bane of the christian world is that they satisfy themselves with notions, and do not wait for the power ; and talk of Christ, rather than feel him, and taste that the Lord is gracious. Therefore our business is earnestly to wait for the stirring of the waters, and to seek after that life and peace which is the fruit of Christ's death ; for the gospel is ' the ministration of the Spirit unto life,' 2 Cor. iii. 8. Here we get a taste : 1 Peter ii. 3, ' If so be that ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.' We feel the power, know him and the power of his resurrection, Phil. iii. 10 ; when Christ is formed in us, when we are changed into his image, have a living principle in our own souls. Therefore our duty is to beg for this Spirit, to seek and wait for this Spirit, till the Lord Jesus pour it on us.
2. With respect to faith. Our duty is to be firmly persuaded of the sufficiency of all that Christ hath done and endured for man's redemp- tion, and to apply it to ourselves. This blood is fully expiatory of sin, and a full ransom given to divine justice for all our wrongs. The blood of bulls and goats could not satisfy divine justice, nor expiate sin, nor purge the conscience, nor remove the curse ; but when the Son of God shall come, and die an accursed death, and shed his blood for us, there is enough done to repair God in point of honour, that he may be no loser by it, to signify God's purest holiness, to express his utter hatred and detestation of sin, to declare his love of justice, and to keep up the authority of his law ; enough to teach all the world that it is a dangerous thing to transgress it. Now this must be tried, and applied to the soul, that we may be able to say, *He is the propitiation for our sins,' 1 John ii. 2 ; that we may build upon the foundation which God hath laid in Sion. By this faith he cometh to dwell and work in our hearts : Gal. iii. 29, ' If ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise ; ' Eph. iii. 17, ' That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith.'
3. With respect to the ordinances, the word and sacraments.
[1.] The word. When you hear the offers of grace in the gospel, that God desireth not the death of a sinner, that he is willing to save all those that believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, or come to God by him, and to pardon and bless them ; let all this excite you to sprinkle it on
120 SERMON UPON HEBREWS XIT. 24.
your own conscience. These blessings are held forth to me : 1 Tim,. i. 15, ' This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.' Here God calleth upon me to put in for my share : Kom. viii. 31, ' What shall we then say to these things ? ' Job v. 27, ' Know thou it for thy good.' Bring it home to thine own heart.
[2.] Sacraments. By baptism we put on Christ, Gal. iii. 27. The Lord's supper: 1 Cor. x. 16, ' The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ ? ' In the Lord's supper we solemnly remember the death of Christ, as the price given for the life of our souls ; we come to behold him as the Lamb of God taking away sin. There we hear of the blood of the new testament, which was shed for the remission of sins. Say, Surely it is so, for ' the blood of Christ speaketh better things than the blood of Abel.' You take it and drink it for your own comfort ; there it is brought nigher to you, and if you do not delude yourselves, in quieting your consciences with an outward form, you may go away with much comfort. Christ representeth it to God in his intercession, and we represent it to God in our prayers and desires, beseeching him to be reconciled to us for Christ's sake. By these means is the blood of Christ sprinkled and applied to us, and we receive more of the Spirit, and our faith is increased and strengthened.