and joy. Each believer was an illustration of the wonderful power of the blood.Further on, when Peter exhorts them to holiness, it is still the precious blood which is his plea. On that he would fix their eyes.For the Jew, in his self-righteousness, and hatred of Christ; for the heathen, in his godliness, there was only one means of deliverance from the power of sin. It is still the one power that effects daily deliverance for sinners. How could it be otherwise? The blood that availed so powerfully in heaven and over hell, is all-powerful also in a sinner’s heart. It is impossible for us to think too highly, or to expect too much, from the power of Jesus’ blood.3 How does this power work? This is our third question.In what conditions, under what circumstances, can that power secure, unhindered, in us, the mighty results it is intended to produce:The first answer is, that just as it is everywhere in the kingdom of God,It is through faith.But faith is largely dependent on knowledge. If knowledge of what the blood can accomplish is imperfect, faith expects little, and the more powerful effects of the blood are impossible. Many Christians think that if now, through faith in the blood, they have received the assurance of the pardon of their sins, they have a sufficient knowledge of its effects.They have no idea that the words of God, like God Himself, are inexhaustible, that they have a wealth of meaning and blessing that surpasses all understanding.They do not remember that when the Holy Spirit speaks of cleansing through the blood, such words are only the imperfect human expressions of the effects and experiences by which the blood, in an unspeakably glorious manner, will reveal its heavenly life-giving power to the soul.Feeble conceptions of its power prevent the deeper, and more perfect manifestations of its effects.As we seek to find out what the Scripture teaches about the blood, we shall see, that faith in the blood, even as we now understand it, can produce in us greater results than we have yet known, and in future, a ceaseless blessing may be ours.Our faith may be strengthened by noticing what the blood has already accomplished. Heaven and hell bear witness to that. Faith will grow by exercising confidence in the fathomless fullness of the promises of God. Let us heartily expect that as we enter more deeply into the fountain, its cleansing, quickening, life-giving power, will be revealed more blessedly.We know that in bathing we enter into the most intimate relationship with the water, giving ourselves up to its cleansing effects. The blood of Jesus is described as a “fountain opened for sin and uncleanness.” (Zech. xiii, I). By the power of the Holy Spirit it streams through the heavenly Temple. By faith I place myself in closest touch with this heavenly stream, I yield myself to it, I let it cover me, and go through me. I bathe in the fountain. It cannot withhold its cleansing and strengthening power. I must in simple faith turn away from what is seen, to plunge into that spiritual fountain, which represents the Savior’s blood, with the assurance that it will manifest its blessed power in me.So let us with childlike, persevering, expectant faith, open our souls to an ever increasing experience of the wonderful power of the blood.But there is still another reply to the question as to what else is necessary, that the blood may manifest its power.Scripture connects the blood most closely with the Spirit. It is only where the Spirit works that the power of the blood will be manifested.
The Spirit and the Blood.
We read in St. John that “there are three that bear witness on earth, the Spirit, and the water and the blood; and these three are one.” (I John v. 8). The water refers to baptism unto repentance and the laying aside of sin. The blood witnesses to redemption in Christ. The Spirit is He who supplies power to the water and the blood. So also the Spirit and the blood are associated in Hebrews ix. 14, where we read, “How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience.” It was by the eternal Spirit in our Lord, that His blood had its value and power. It is always through the Spirit that the blood possesses its living power in heaven, and in the hearts of men.
The blood and the Spirit ever bear testimony together. Where the blood is honored in faith or preaching, there the Spirit works; and where He works He always leads souls to the blood. The Holy Spirit could not be given till the blood was shed. The living bond between the Spirit and the blood cannot be broken. It should be seriously noticed, that if the full power of the blood is to be manifested in our souls, we must place ourselves under the teaching of the Holy Spirit.
We must firmly believe that He is in us, carrying on His work in our hearts. We must live as those who know that the Spirit of God really dwells within, as a seed of life, and He will bring to perfection the hidden, powerful effects, of the blood. We must allow Him to lead us.
Through the Spirit the blood will cleanse, sanctify and unite us to God.
When the Apostle desired to arouse believers to hearken to God’s voice, with His call to holiness, “Be ye holy, for I am holy,” he reminded them that they had been redeemed by the precious blood of Christ.
Knowledge Necessary.
They must know that they have been redeemed, and what that redemption signified, but they must above all know that “it was not by corruptible things such as silver and gold,” things in which there was no power of life, “but by the precious blood of Christ.”
To have a correct perception of what the preciousness of that blood was, as the power of a perfect redemption, would be to them the power of a new and holy life.
Beloved Christians, that statement concerns us also. We must know that we are redeemed by the precious blood. We must know about redemption and the blood before we can experience its power.
In proportion as we more fully understand what redemption is, and what the power and preciousness of the blood are, by which redemption has been obtained, we shall the more fully experience its value.
Let us betake ourselves to the School of the Holy Spirit to be led into a deeper knowledge of redemption through the precious blood.
Need and Desire.
Two things are needful for this.
First: a deeper sense of need, and a desire to understand the blood better. The blood has been shed to take away sin. The power of the blood is to bring to naught the power of sin.
We are, alas, too easily satisfied with the first beginnings of deliverance from sin.
Oh, that what remains of sin in us might become unbearable to us!
May we no longer be contented with the fact that we, as redeemed ones, sin against God’s will in so many things.
May the desire for holiness become stronger in us. Should not the thought that the blood has more power than we know of, and can do for us greater things than we have yet experienced, cause our hearts to go out in strong desire? If there were more desire for deliverance from sin; for holiness and intimate friendship with a Holy God; it would be the first thing that is needful for being led further into the knowledge of what the blood can do.
Expectation.
The second thing will follow.
Desire must become expectation.
As we inquire from the Word, in faith, what the blood has accomplished, it must be a settled matter with us, that the blood can manifest its full power also in us. No sense of unworthiness, or of ignorance, or of helplessness must cause us to doubt. The blood works in the surrendered soul with a ceaseless power of life.
Surrender yourself to God the Holy Spirit. Fix the eyes of your heart on the blood.
Open your whole inner being to its power.
