entirely we are indebted to the free grace of God, or be suffici- ently on our guard against self-preference and self-complacency.]
4. The indispensable necessity of resorting to it — [If any person had contracted uncleanness, it signified
nothing how the defilement came : he was unclean ; and he must purify himself in the appointed way : and, if he refused to do so, he must be cut off. If, previous to Iris purification, he should presume to enter into the sanctuary, the sanctuary itself would be defiled.
Thus whether a man have sinned in a greater or less degree, he must seek to be cleansed by the blood and Spirit of Christ : he must embrace the Gospel as his only hope. It will be in vain to plead, that his sins have been small and unintentional, and that he does not deserve the wrath of God : one question only will be asked, " Is he a sinner 2 has he at any time, or in any way, contracted the smallest measure of defilement ? " If any man be so free from sin, as never to have committed it once in his whole life, in thought, word, or deed, let him reject the Gospel as unsuited to his state : but if the smallest evil have ever been indulged in his heart, he must submit to the purification that is prescribed. No other can be substituted in its place. He may say, as Naaman, " Are not the waters of Abana and Pharpar as good as those of Jordan ?" But, allow- ing them to be as good, they will not have the same effect, because they are not appointed of God to that end. I say then to every child of man, " Repent, and believe the Gospel:" " Repent and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out :" " He that believeth shall be saved; and he that believe th not shall be damned." Think not to come to God in any other way than this ; for heaven itself would be defiled by your admission thither, if you were not first purged from your sins by the blood and Spirit of Christ.]
5. The efficacy of it when duly applied — [Every person who complied with the ordinance, was
cleansed : and every one who has the blood and Spirit of Christ sprinkled on his soul, shall " be saved with an everlasting sal- vation." The argument which the Apostle uses in a fore-cited passage d, deserves to be attentively considered. It is this ; " If the legal purification availed for the smallest good, how shall not the gospel method of purification avail for the greatest ? " In this argument there would be no force at all, if only logically considered : but, if considered in connexion with the deep mys- teries of the Gospel, it has all the force of demonstration. Consider who it was, whose blood was offered unto God for us ? it was the blood of his co-equal, co-eternal Son. Consider who
* Heb. ix. 13, 14.
108 NUMBERS, XX. 12. [lG6.
that Agent was, who co-operated with him in the making of this offering? it was "The Eternal Spirit," who, with the Father and the Son, is the one Supreme God. Consider these things, I say, and nothing will be too great for us to expect, if only we come to God in his appointed way. Yes ; our consciences shall be purged from guilt, and our souls be transformed into the divine image. Whatever our sins may have been, even " though of a crimson dye, they shall be made white as snow." Let the sinner view an unclean person under the law, excluded from the society of his dearest friends, and prohibited from all access to the sanctuary ; and then, on the renewed sprinkling of the ashes, instantly brought into communion with the Lord's people, and invested with the privilege of drawing nigh to God : let him view this, I say, and he has a striking representation of the change that shall take place in his own condition, the very moment he is interested in the atonement of Christ. He shall instantly be numbered with the saints below, and assuredly be fellow-heir with " the saints in light." Let then this sprinkling be performed without delay : exercise faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Go to your great High- Priest, and say, " Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean ; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow." But remember, that you must repeat this sprinkling from day to day. The unclean person was to be sprinkled on the third day, and on the seventh : so must we be from time to time, even to the latest period of our lives.