Dear reader, this is as true now as it was then! Where there is no blood, there is no salvation,--"without shedding of blood is no remission." Can any question be of such importance to you as this one: Am I shielded by the blood of Jesus? Oh! have you fled for refuge to the blood that was shed on Calvary? There, "Christ, our passover, was sacrificed for us." His blood is represented as being sprinkled on "the mercy-seat above." There, God's eye ever sees the blood of our true paschal Lamb. Have you faith in that precious blood? Though deeply sensible of your guilt, can you say in truth, This is my only hiding-place: I do depend upon the blood? Then rest assured that you are perfectly safe--that you are eternally saved. You have God's own word for it--"When I see the blood, I will pass over you."--"We have redemption _through His blood_, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace."--"But now, in Christ Jesus, ye who sometimes were far off, are made nigh _by the blood of Christ_."--"Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation _through faith in His blood_." (Eph. i. 7; ii. 13; Rom. iii. 25.)
"Happy they who trust in Jesus, Sweet their portion is and sure."
But, on the other hand, if the blood of Jesus is neglected or despised, there can be no security, no peace, and no salvation. "How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation?" (Heb. ii. 3.) Unless the destroying angel sees the blood, he enters as the judge of sin. Every sin must be punished, either in the person of the sinner, or the sinner's substitute. This is a deeply solemn truth; but how blessed to know that "Christ hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God." "For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God In Him." (1 Peter iii. 18; 2 Cor. v. 21.) To neglect this divine Substitute, and the shelter which He has provided, is to expose the soul to the unrelenting judgment of God. No sin, however small, can escape judgment, either on the cross of Christ, or in the lake of fire. Oh, the priceless value of that blood which "cleanseth us from ALL sin"!--which makes us clean enough for heaven!
Redemption being now accomplished, and Israel divinely prepared, they commence their journey. But observe, in passing, _how_ they start. Before taking one step, every question between the conscience and God is divinely settled. They are forgiven, justified, and accepted, in His sight. Hence it is written, "When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt." (Hosea xi. 1.) Blessed type of the real condition in which every true believer begins his Christian course! He may not see this blessed truth, or he may have a very feeble apprehension of it, as Israel had, but that does not alter the fact. God acts according to His own knowledge of the relationship, and the affections which belong to it. We see this in the glorious deliverance of His beloved people at the Red Sea, in the manna from heaven, the water from the flinty rock, and in the pillar of His presence, which accompanied them in all their wanderings. He ever acts according to the purposes of His love, and the value of the blood of Jesus.
Once more, dear reader, allow me to ask. Are you sure that you are under the safe shelter, the secure refuge, the blessed hiding-place, of the Redeemer's blood?
But I must now leave my reader, earnestly recommending him to pursue the journey across the wilderness in company with God and His redeemed. He will find the "Notes" most useful. They convey truth, agreeably and intelligently to the heart, the conscience, and the understanding. May many find them to be a real oasis in the desert. The journey will prove a most profitable one if we thereby learn more of the natural unbelief of our own heart and the abiding faithfulness of God's. He never changes, blessed be His name; and the blood of the slain Lamb never loses its efficacy.
"Blest Lamb of God! Thy precious blood Shall never lose its power, Till every ransomed saint of God Be saved to sin no more."
May the Lord graciously own and use the following "Notes" for His own glory and the blessing of many souls.