"Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood. And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen."
There are certain expressions in the word of God which unfold, in the most familiar manner, what the Christian is; and which, if there was but the most ordinary attention on the part of the reader, would lead him to say, "well, if that is what a Christian is, I know nothing of the matter."
These expressions are not the violent stretching forth after some hope, but they are characterized by the quiet certainty with which they appropriate the blessing. As John here says of all the Christians to whom he was writing, " unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood," &c. Now, if I were to ask you—you, perhaps, who would be affronted if I should say you were not a Christian-if I were to ask you, are you sure that Christ loves you? that He has washed you from your sins in His own blood? No, you would say, if honest, I know nothing of it. Yet these are the expressions of the common recognized state of Christians.
Or can you say-" yes, blessed be God, though a poor thing in myself, I do know that God loves me." To be able to say this is the common portion of the believer. And so it is written, "we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in the wicked one." All Christians are recognized as knowing salvation. And in 2 Peter we read of one who had forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. But he could not forget what he had never known. Forgetting " that he was purged," was backsliding; the Christian state was knowing that he was purged.
You will find every kind of exhortation addressed to the believer; but they are all based on the ground of his having been brought to God. I ask any one, would there not be a quieter, happier, state of soul if you were certain that God loved you? There cannot be happy affections if the soul is not in confidence with God. That is the kind of knowledge of God which is life eternal. God is love, and if you do not know that you know nothing. And where are you if you know not God?
If you believe fully that God is love, love toward you, what kind of thoughts would you have of Him? Would you think that you must obey, or else He will punish you with His vengeance? Would you think of Him as a Judge? No. Such thoughts are not the thoughts of one acquainted with His saving love.
Of course there is a judgment, but there is no mercy then. When Christ comes to judge, can you stand if He marks iniquity? can you answer Him for your transgressions? No. But if you really believed in His righteous judgment now, you would say, " enter not into judgment with thy servant, for in thy sight shall no man living be justified." But Christ is not now a Judge; He is a Savior. It is all mercy now. He is not imputing to any their trespasses. Every eye must see Him. We Christians see Him now as a Savior. You who do not believe put it of till the judgment, hoping to be able to meet Him then; but then " all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him." He is a Judge when He is not a Savior. It is judgment then, not trial as to whether you will pass. Now there is a trial going on, not indeed as to whether you are a sinner or not; but as to whether you will receive Christ or not. Now your heart is put to the test: alas! your willful heart would still reject Him, if grace does not bow you in the sense of sin. God will justify Himself in that day, and no one else. In that day He will demonstrate the sin which is the ground of the judgment. Every secret thing will then be made manifest. It is not then that the question is raised, but that the judgment is manifested. Now, the question is raised. All this is brought into the soul now. In spite of all the fair appearances of the world we justify God now, we accept the judgment God gives of man now, we justify Him in condemning us. The eye of God brings the judgment into my conscience now, and I bow to it. I feel and say that God should not let such a wretch live before Him. That is what will be when every eye sees Him; but it is also what is now in the soul, when the Lord reveals to us our state by faith. I now justify God. I say I have been all darkness and sin, and I abhor myself in His presence. Conscience is dumb in the light of God. If you have been brought to this, you know yourself. If you seek to hide it you are not the better, but the worse.
Suppose that I am brought to this, I shall not now be trusting to a vague feeling that God is merciful. It was not so with Peter when he found himself a sinner in the presence of the Lord. He said, " depart from me, O Lord, for I am a sinful man." He felt that sin and Christ, as the Holy Lord, should not be together. So is it ever when the soul is brought to be jealous about God. The idea of compromise is a horror to one whose conscience is active about sin. Well, when brought to this, what can the soul have confidence in? Oh! in this,-that when we were in such a condition we have full assurance of the love of God toward us.
Now if I turn to nature, I see signs of goodness, but wide-spread misery and wretchedness too, so that I know not how to say God is love; and these very signs of goodness show me that I have lost it all, for this God I have offended. If I turn to providence, I find it all confusion. How often have the wicked the upper hand. If I look to the law, it condemns me, and leaves me without hope.
In all these I see things about God; but nothing that reveals Him. In Christ I get what reveals God. I, for myself, just where I am, find that He is the "faithful witness" of God. For it is in this world, where all the sin was, that Christ was the faithful witness.
There will be no need of a witness in heaven. Now I can go to Jesus and see God in Him. Do you ever find a single act or word of this faithful witness that was not love? Never. Of course He would unmask the hypocrite. But the moment a person is true,-were he the greatest sinner in the world -the moment he is contented to be what he is in Christ's presence-you will never find that He was anything but love. Of course God must convince of sin. He will write on the sepulchers and tell what is within. God will unmask what we are; our self-deception He will discover to us; but then He is perfect love, and nothing else. What brought Christ here? To know that there was sin? Oh no! He knew it well; but He came here because there was sin. The very sin I am confounded at, is the very thing that brought Him here in love.
In the case of the woman who was a sinner, in the seventh of Luke, Christ puts down Simon, and He does not care for the guests. Why? Because a poor woman was to be comforted in love. Christ came into the very place where sin was. If it is a question of truth, He knows my sins. When I speak of Christ loving me, it is that He loves me knowing all that I am; it is not loving, surely, the sinful. condition I am in, but loving me when in it. He will write on the ground to let my conscience act; He will bring my sin into my conscience. He will not let me get satisfied with myself; but He will have me to rest in His thoughts of me. What the heart struggles to do is to be satisfied with itself; but God will break that down; and the moment you are brought to that, He will make you to be satisfied with Him, just as you are. He will not leave you there, of course; but He will have you to rest in the knowledge of His perfect love: " Unto him that loved us;" then I find rest.
But that is not all: it is added, " and washed us from our sins in his own blood." It is not said, will wash us, but has washed us. We want it now, for peace, and for holy affections. " In his own blood." Who has done this? Christ. He has done it. He has made us " clean every whit." And if He has washed us He has done it in righteousness, knowing all our sin, and maintaining all this perfect righteousness which made us tremble because of our sins; but in accordance with it all He has washed us from our sins in His own blood. He knew what our sins were in the sight of God, and so He gave Himself up; Himself entirely He gave for me. An angel could not, nor should not, do it; he is called to keep his first estate,-but Christ only. In this act of Christ in washing my sins I find Him giving His blood, His life, Himself; for me. Not one single spring do I find that was not love to me. Such is the knowledge I get of Christ.
He has washed me from my sins in His own blood. Do I believe this? Oh yes! I do. I believe that every one of them is washed away, and that He has done it, as it is said in Hebrews, " by himself he purged our sins." Ah! you say, if I only felt this! But let me ask you, will your feelings add to the value of Christ's blood? Oh no! Then why not rest on it, as that which has perfectly satisfied God on account of the sins? The question of sin Christ settled between God and Himself. " By himself he purged our sins;" He did it according to the holiness of God, and according to my need. And what cleanness do I get? The cleanness which God's eye requires; all that which shut us out from God being perfectly put away, so that we are brought into the light as God is in the light; and in doing it His perfect love has been revealed.
"And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father." If I take a person and bring him into the enjoyment of everything that I have myself; I give the fullest proof of the perfect outgoing of my heart towards him. Kindness may give something for a person; but that is perfect love. I cannot do more. Well, that is what Christ has done. He is the King and Priest; and He makes us kings and priests too: and it is worth so much the more because it is the very thing He has Himself.
Another thing we get,-the perfect love of the Father. Not the love of Jesus alone, but the love of the Father, the knowledge of which Jesus gives us. He makes us priests unto His Father. Was ever love like this? Never. Was Christ ever anything else? Never. He is nothing but this perfectness of love for us. And the sum of it all is, " he has loved us." Has He anything else to say to us? No. What love had to do, it has done. Oh, in the simplicity of thankful hearts, to say, " he has made peace by the blood of his cross." " Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion, forever and ever. Amen."