Cleansing Blood
[A Sermon Preached By David Crumpton on 27 March, 1870, At The Strict Baptist Church Located At Clapham]
“The blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanseth us from all sin.”—1 John 1:7
As I have already observed while reading this chapter, from which I have taken my text, the Apostle John speaks of himself as a gospel minister—as having personal and experimental acquaintance with the glorious things connected with eternal life, love, and mercy. He says:—”That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.” But while he so speaks, it is evident he does not arrogate to himself special sanctity and holiness—as having experienced what was not shared by other members of the church of Christ.
He acknowledges that nothing short of the power, or less than the blood of Jesus Christ, brought them out of the bondage and corruption of their former condition. He lays no stress on Sacraments, or the efficacy of ordinances, whether of Baptism or the Lord’s Supper, but attributes the glorious and blessed effect produced on their hearts and the enjoyment in their minds, to the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. And if any attribute these effects to human instrumentality, or anything less than the blood of Jesus Christ, it is because there is no light in them.
There are four things in our text to which (as far as time will admit) I would invite your attention. 1. Whose blood it is. 2. Its efficacy. 3. Its continual efficacy; and lastly, the glorious consequences produced on the heart and conscience.
Let us, first, point out whose blood it is that is spoken of. If you take up your Bible you will find that blood is never spoken of as a thing of little worth. From Genesis to Revelation, blood is spoken of in a special way and manner.
If we go back to the days of Cain und Abel, what a sad reference there to blood. See the brother in the field, see the anger depicted on the countenance of Cain, the indication of wrath in that heart, and the death blow given, not to an enemy, but a brother. Behold a brother stretched on the ground in the agonies of death!
The great God comes down and says, “Cain, Cain, what hast thou done? The voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground.”
“Blood has a voice to pierce the skies.’’ Blood is an important thing, a sacred thing; and if you go to the book of divine revelation, these facts meet you under every dispensation. Look at the significancy, worth and value of blood shown in the sacrifices under the Levitical law! And when you come to the great sacrifice of the Son of God, what do you behold? That it is by blood alone there can be any pardon and remission of sin. It is by blood alone. “For without shedding of blood is no remission.” You may go to the waters of the Jordan, and sprinkle, or immerse in these waters, but it will not procure remission of sins. And not all the tears that were ever shed by human eyes could wash out a single spot of sin from a guilty son! No; nothing short of blood can do this. It is the teaching in the Old, as it is the teaching in the New Testament—“Without shedding of blood there is no remission.”
Some think, if they do but leave off their old sins and lead a moral life, and practise acts of benevolence, &c., &c., all will be well; they will be sure to get to heaven. But let me tell you, dear soul—yes, I say dear soul, for I count the immortal soul of every one of God’s creatures dear—let me tell you that however good all such acts are in themselves, and, oh, that we saw more of them! yet it is “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost.” (Titus 3:5)
There is no getting to heaven without the blood und righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ.
“Not all the outward forms on earth,
Nor rites that God has given,
Nor will of man, nor blood, nor birth,
Can raise a soul to heaven.”
Without the application of the blood of Jesus Christ to your soul, you will in no wise be fit for the kingdom of God. O that the Lord may lay this upon your heart! What a death it is to all legal hope! Whose blood is it? There is a difference in blood. The blood of a man is of more price than the blood of a beast, and the blood of some men is of more price than the blood of others. For instance, if some were to fall a victim by the hand of an assassin, it might not affect anyone—that is, in a certain sense. It would not be viewed as a national calamity. But if you take the blood of a prince, or a sovereign, the consequences would be far otherwise; the most alarming consequences might follow, such as to rend the kingdom in twain. Whose blood is it? The blood of Jesus—ah, that is a precious word! All Hebrew names have a signification, and has not this! Yes, indeed! Jesus, Saviour, “For he shall save his people from their sins.”
The blood of Jesus Christ was not the blood of a private person, but must be viewed in connection with his great redemption work in the salvation of men. Whose blood is it? The blood of Jesus the Saviour—the blood of Christ the anointed Sovereign—the very Person God had set apart by His determinate counsel and foreknowledge, and the Spirit had descended upon, and anointed for carrying out His great work for the salvation of His church. There is a great difference in respect to persons, arising from the position they may occupy in life, or the character they may be called upon to sustain—an ambassador for instance. England has an ambassador—in France, we will say; and he personifies the sovereign and empire itself. All he does is done as effectually as if the Queen of the nation and done it herself; and this by virtue of the official character he holds. There may be a nobleman of greater birth, of higher family than the ambassador; he may belong to the very highest family in the land; but his signature to documents of State would be worth nothing. because it is not of an official character. You will see from this illustration that the work of Christ was of an official character. What He did was done in an official and representative way, as if God had done it Himself. It is that that gives efficacy to the blood of Christ. He was God’s Lamb, and on His head was laid all the sins of God’s chosen people. “He hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” “For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins,” &:c. Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me) to do thy will, O God,” &c., &:c. “By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” ( Heb. 10:7-10.) That was the work of an official person, coming in the name and will of the Father, and efficacy is given to His atoning sacrifice. It is the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, God’s dear Son.
Have you ever pondered on the parable of the vineyard? “A certain man planted a vineyard, and let it forth to husbandmen, and went into a far country for a long time; and at the season he sent a servant to the husbandmen, that they should give him of the fruit of the vineyard; but the husbandmen beat him and sent him away empty. And again he sent another servant, and they beat him also, and entreated him shamefully, and sent him away empty. And again he sent a third, and they wounded him also, and cast him out. Then said the lord of the vineyard, What shall I do? I will send my beloved Son”—Him, of whom it is written, “The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old. I Was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was. When there was no depths, I was brought forth; and when there were no fountains abounding with water. Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth,” &c. (Prov. 8:22-25.) “I will send my beloved Son: it may be they will reverence him when they shall see him,” &:c. (Luke 22:9-13.)
And God sent his beloved Son into the world, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. He brought all the dignity of the Divine character. He was equal with God, and as the apostle speaks—“Who being in the form of God thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of JESUS every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Phil. 2:6-11.)
Look at the dignity of Christ! God’s own Son! One in all His attributes, perfection, and glory! One, in every sense, with the Father! And this dear, only begotten Son of God, bare His people’s sins in His own body on the tree; and the virtue of His precious blood cleanseth them from all sin.
Secondly. The efficacy of this blood. It cleanseth from all sin. I may remark that there has always been a deep sense of pollution in the minds of men in all ages and parts of the world. We will not go to profane history, even if time would allow, but we will to the Old Testament. And there we read in Micah, 6:7, “Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?” What a question! Does it not show that some atonement was felt to be needed? See how the conscience is searching out for some remedy for the disease! And so you will find in other portions of Scripture this fact meets you. You will see how some sought satisfaction in the sacrifices under the Mosaic economy. But what does the Apostle say in his Epistle to the Hebrews? “And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.” ([Heb. 9:22.) But he goes on to say that it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sin.”
“Not all the blood of beasts
On Jewish altars slain
Could give the guilty conscience peace,
Or wash away the stain.”
And if you could compute the quantity shed—which could be compared only to rivers, of blood, yet it could not wash away even one stain of sin.
Some have been told that Baptism is efficacious in the putting away of sin,—and according to the teaching of the Church of England, in “christening” (as it is called) children are pronounced regenerate and made “children of God and inheritors of the kingdom of heaven.” But oh! how unscriptural! and what a delusion! Baptism even when rightly administered will not take away sin. Don’t go away, dear friends, and say that the Baptists teach that baptism puts away sin: say we teach nothing of the kind; say we teach with the Apostle that baptism has no efficacy in cleansing from sin,—that it is “not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God.”
Nothing short of Christ’s precious blood can avail; and that does avail, for it cleanseth from all sin. “In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and uncleanness.” Zech. 13:1. And as the poet beautifully sings”—
“There is a fountain fill’d with blood
Drawn from Immanuel’s veins;
And sinner’s plung’d beneath that flood,
Lose all their guilty stains.”
I remember once visiting a Deacon in severe sickness, whose mind had been dwelling on this subject. He said, “Brother Crumpton, there is the verse of a hymn which has often been a comfort to me, and I have been trying to bring it to memory but cannot: will you repeat some verses? you might possibly mention the one I want.” Well I repeated several, but he said “Not that, not that.” I tried again, and again, till I repeated “Dear dying Lamb.” “That’s it! that’s it!” he exclaimed. “Oh, is not that verse sweet and precious to a believing soul?” and then he repeated it—
“Dear dying Lamb, thy precious blood
Shall never lose its pow’r,
Till all the ransomed Church of God
Be saved to sin no more.”
Here we see the efficacy of the blood of Jesus Christ, God’s dear Son. It cleanses from all sin, and the sins of the whole Church of God, the whole elect family of God. I would here say that I love the whole Church of God, whether Baptists or not. I believe there are very many of God’s dear children who still are not members of any visible church—I think they should be, for it is the duty of Christians to be identified with the Lord’s people; to be joined together in church-fellowship; to observe the rules of the Lord’s house, and to walk in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless—still I love them as God’s children, and can say with Paul, ”Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity.” And this will be their prayer, “O Lord, my sins are very great; more in number than the hairs of my head; more than the stars; more than the sands on the sea-shore; more than these three put together—hairs, stars, and sands.” Yes, they will all make the same confession. But leaving these, let us go to heaven, and see the multitude which no man can number, and oh, the number of their sins! what an aggregate! We shall hear them all making the same confession—all testifying to the efficacy of the blood of Christ. Yes, it cleanses from all sin, no matter what sin; whether it is sin of the heart, of the head, of the lip, or of the life. No matter how black, how polluted you have been; the blood of Jesus Christ applied by the Holy Ghost cleanseth from ALL sin. What blessed words are these: “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” Oh what a precious thing is the blood of Jesus Christ!
We read in the seventh chapter of Revelation of the “great number which no man could number clothed in white robes, and palms in their hands, who had come out of great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” All their sins in their unregenerate state, and the sins of their holy things—every sin appertaining to them—had been cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ, God’s dear Son, and they are acceptable to the Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty, and are ”without fault before the throne of God.”
The Holy Ghost is very particular in the use of words; and we should be careful, in quoting Scripture, to quote it correctly; for it is not possible to be too particular in this respect. Look at the propriety of the word,—cleanseth. There is not a more blessed word in connection with the blood of Christ. It is not said to take away some sin, but that it cleanseth from all sin,—past, present, and future; for after, by the power and teaching of the Holy Ghost, we are brought to the cross of Christ, and obtain pardon and remission of sin, and stand justified in His righteousness before God,—yet we sin again and again, and need cleansing again and again, which could not be the case if there was but one act of cleansing. But this cleansing blood of Christ is in continual efficacy, and we shall need it till we go to the grave; and then our children, and children’s children will be able,—by the teaching of the Holy Ghost, to say, “The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin.” O the efficacy of this precious blood! And what glad tidings there is in this blood—“A fountain open for sin and uncleanness.” O what marvellous words! Look over them! meditate upon them! And when you are feeling the burden, and the wounds of sin, look to the blood of Jesus Christ; and as the bitten Israelites looked to the brazen serpent, in the wilderness, so, poor soul! turn thine eyes to the precious Son of God.
No matter what thou art, or what thou hast been. Look to Him, Who said, “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: that whosoever believeth in Him, should not perish, but have eternal life,” &c.
May God the Spirit help you, and every one like you, to do so, and you will experience the truth of this blessed portion of God’s Word,—”The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.” Cleanseth us. It is a personal matter you see. Yes, and it is the personal application of this blood that will make us shout aloud for joy till death, and then throughout eternal ages. Amen.
[Taken down by William Arthur Adams.]
