Fellowship with God, Sermon 15
SERMON XV·
1 Joh. 1.7.
— And the blood of Iesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
CAn two walk together except they be agreed? A… darknesse cannot have fellowship with lig…, till it be changed into some con…o…mity to t…e light, even …o t…ere can neither be any fellowship in walking, nor con…ormity in nature, between God and u…, who are enemies to him by n…ure, unlesse there be some agreement and reconcilia…ion os the difference. Now here is that which maketh the atonement, The blood of Iesus his Son …leanseth us from all sin. This is it that takes away the difference between God … men, and makes reconciliation for us; This blood hath qu…nched …he fl…me of indignation and w…ath kindled in Heaven against us. And this alone can quench and extinguish the flames and …u…ies of a tormented soul, that is burnt up with the app…ehension of his anger: All other things thou can …pply, or cast upon them, will be as oyl to increase them, whether it be to cool thy self in the shadows of the worlds delights, such a poor …hi…t as the rich glutton would have taken in hell; those drops of cold water that thou can dis…ill out of the c…eature, will never give any solid ease to thy conscience; thou may abate the …ury of it, or put it off for a season, thou who is afraid of hell and wrath, may procure so…e short vacancy from those terrours, by turning to the world: but certainly they will recurr …gain, and break out in a g…eater fire, like a fever that is not diminished, but increased by much drinking cold water: or if thou go about to refresh thy self, and sati…fie thy challenges by thy own attainments in Religion, and by reflection upon thy own heart and wayes, finding something in thy esteem, that may counterballance thy evils, and so give thee some confidence of Gods avour, these, I say, are but deceitful things, and will never either quench the displeasure of God for thy si…s, but rather add …ewel to it, because thou justifies thy self, which is an abomination before him; nor yet will it totally extinguish and put to silence the clamours of thy conscience, but that some day thou shall be spoiled of all that sels-confidence, and sel…-defence, and find thy sel… so much the more displeasing to God, that thou did please thy self, and undertook to pacifie him. Therefore, my beloved, let me above all things recommend this unto you, as the prime …oundation of all Religion, upon which all our peace with God, and pardon of sin, and fellowship with God must be built, that the blood of Jesus Christ be applyed unto your consciences by believing, and that first of all, upon the discovery of your enmity with God, and infinit distance from him, you apply your hearts unto this blood, which is the atonement, to the reconciling sacrifice, which alone hath ve…tue and power with God. Do not imagine that any peace can be without this; would ye walk with God, which is a …dg… of ag…eement … would ye have …ellowship with God, which i… … …uit of …econciliation? would ye have pardon o… sins, and the pa…ticular knowledge of it, whi…h is the greatest ef…ect of …avour? and all this, without and before application of Christ who is our peace, in whom the Father only is well pleased; will you seek these, and yet di…pu…e this point of believing, as if it we…e possible to attain these without the sp…inkling of that blood on the hea…t, which indeed clean…eth it f…om an evil accusing conscience▪ If you desire to walk in the light, as he is in the light, why wea…y ye your selves in by-waye…? Why take ye such a comp…sse o… endlesse and …ruitlesse agitation, and pe…plexity of mind? and will not rather come straight way at it, by the door of Iesu… Christ, …o… he is the new and living way, into which you must enter, if ye would walk in the light; and the wounds of his side, out of which this blood gushed, these open you a way of accesse to him, because he was pierced for us. That st…eam of blood, i… ye come to it, and follow it all along, it will certainly carry you to the Sea of light and love, where you may have fellowship with God. And O, How much comfort is in it, that there is such a stream running all the way of our walking with God? all the way of our fellowship, that fountain of Christs blood runs not d…y, but …ns along with the believer, for the cleansing of his after pollution… ▪ of …is defilements, even in the very light it self. This then, as it is the fi…st foundation of peace and communion with God, so it is the pe…petual assurance and confirmation of it, that which first gives boldnesse, and that alone which still c…nt…nue… boldnesse in it. It is the fi…st ground, and the constant warrand and secu…ity of it, without which it would be as soon dissolved as made. If that blood did not run along all this way, to w…sh all his steps, if the way of light and fellowship with God, were not watered, and re…eshed with the continual current of this blood, certainly none could walk in it without being consumed. The…efore it is, that the mercy of God and ric…es of grace in Christ, hath provided this blo…d for u…, both to cleanse the sin… of i…norance, before …elieving, and the sin… o… light, after believing, t…at a poor sinner may constantly go on his w…, and not be broken off …rom God, by his infirmitie… and e…capes in the way.
You …ee then the Gospel …uns in these two golden stream…, pardon of sin, and purity of walking; they run undividedly, all along in one channel, yet without confusion one with another, as it is reported of some great Rivers, that run together between the same Banks, and yet retains distinct colour… and natures all the way, till they part. But these streams that glad the City of God, never part one from another; the cleansing blood, an… the pu…ifying light, … a…e … intire a…d pe…fect …um of the Gospel; pu…ification …rom sin, the guilt of …, and the pu…ity of …alking in the light, flowing from that, makes up the …ull c…m…l…xion o… Chr…ianity; w…ich are …o nearly conjoyned to…ethe…, that i… they be divided, they cease to be, and cannot any of them subsist, save in mens deluded imagination. The end o… …shing in the blood of Christ i…, that we may co…e to this light, and have fellowship with it; for the dar…nesse of hell, the utter da…kness of the curse of God, which overspreads the unbelieving soul, and eclipses all the light o… Gods countenance from him, that da…k and thick cloud of guiltinesse, that heap of unrenewed conversation, this, I say, must be removed by the cleansing of the blood of Christ, and then the soul is admitted to injoy that light, and walk into it. And it is removed chiefly for this end, that there may be no impediment in the way of this fellowship; this blood cleanseth, that you being cleansed, may hence…orth walk in purity; and there is no pu…ity like that of the light of Gods countenance, and commands: and so you are washed in the blood of Christ, that you may walk in the light of God, and take heed that you defile not your garments again. But if so be, (and certainly it will be, considering our weaknesse…) that you defile your selves again, like soolish children, who after they have washed, run to the puddle again, forget…ing that th…y were cleansed; if either you… daily infi…mities tro…ble, or some grosser pollution defile and waste you… cons…ience, know th…t this blood …uns all along in the same channel of your obligation to holy walking, and it is as sufficient now as ever, to cleanse you from all sin, from sins of daily incursion, and sins of a grosser nature, there is no exception in that blood, let there be none in your application to i…, and apprehension of it. Now, this is not to give boldnesse to any man to sin, or continue in sin, because of the lengthned use, and continued vertue and efficacy of the blood of Christ; for if any man draw such a result f…om it, and improve it to the advantage of his flesh, he declare… himself to have no portion in it, never to have been w…shed by it; for what soul can in sobriety look upon that blood shed by the Son of God, to take away the sins of the worl…, and find an emboldning to sin from that view? Who can wash and clea…e here, and presently think of defilement, but with indignation?
I spe…k these things the rather, because there is a twofold misapprehension of the Gospel among Christians, and on both hands much darknesse …nd stumbling is occasioned. We have poor narrow spirits, and do not take intire truth in its full comprehension, and so we are as unfit and unequal discerners of the Gospel, and receivers of it, as he that would judge of a sentence by one word, of a book by one page, of a harmony by one note, and of the world by one parcel of it. The beauty and harmony of things consists in their intire union; and though there should appear many discrepancies, …nd unpleasant discords in several parts, yet all united together, make up a pleasant consort. Now this is our childish foolishnesse, that we look upon the Gospel only by halfs, and this being alone seen, begets misapprehensions and mistakes in our minds; for ordinarily we supply that which we see not with some fancy of our own. When the blood of Iesus Christ is holden out in its full vertue, in the large extent of its efficacy, to cleanse all sin, and to make peace with God, and wipe away all transgressions, as if they h…d never been; the generality of you never apprehending much your own desperat condition, nor conceiving an absolute necessity of a change, you think this is all that is in the Gospel, and begin to flatter your selves, and blesse your selves, though you live in the imaginations of your own hearts, and never apprehends the absolute need, and inevitable sequel of walking in purity aster pardon. And alace, there is something of this sometimes overtakes the he…rts of true believers, in the slight and overly consideration of the mercy of God, …d blood of Christ: you do not lay the constr…int upon your hearts to … holy conversation. I say, it is not because you apprehend that blood, that you take more liberty to the flesh, but rather because you too slightly and superf…cially consider it, and that but the one half of it, without p…e…cing into the p…oper end of that clean…ing, which i…, that we may walk in p…ity.
But on the other hand, some believin… souls, having their desi…es inla…ged afte… more …oline…s and confo…mity to God, and app…ehen…ing not only the necessity of it, but the beauty and comlinesse of it, yet finding withal, how infinitly short they come, and how o… their pu…po…es are broken and disappointed, and them…elves plunged in the mi…e of their own filthinesse, this doth discourage them, and dri…e… them to such a despondency, and dejection of spirit, that …hey a…e like to give over the way of holinesse as de…pe…at. Now my beloved, for you who look upon the Gospel by a parcel, and such a parcel as injoyns much upon you, I would ea…nestly beseech, to open and inlarge your hea…ts to receive the full body of the truth, to look upon th… cleansing blood, as well as that pure light; to consider the perpetual use of the one; untill you have fully attained the other. Know that the fo…tai… is kept open, and not shut, not only to admit you to come at fi…st, but to give ready accesse in all after-defilements, and there is no wo…d more comprehensive then this here, it cleanseth from all sin. All thy exceptions, doubts, and difficulties, are about some particular sin…, and circumstances; thy debates runs upon some exception, but here is an universal comprehensive word, that excludes all exception; no kind of sin, either for quality, or degree, or circumstance, is too great for this blood; and therefore as you have reason to be humbled under your …a…lings, so there is no reason to be discouraged, but rather to reviv… your spirits and vigour again, in the study of this walking in the light, knowing that one day we shall be in the light, …s he is in it. Nay, take this alongs with you, as your strength, and incouragement to your duty, as the greatest provocation to mor… purity, that there is so constant readiness of pardon i… that blood.