262. THE FILTH OF 3IE PURGED Christ. By faith we receive Christ himself, andby faith and due consideration of the blood of Christ in his sa- do we receive all the benefits of his mediation, that is, as they are tendered unto us in the promises of God. He is ourpropitiation, through faith in hisblood, as of- fered; and he is our sanctification, through faith in his blood, as sprinkled. And particular acting of faith on the blood of Christ, for the cleansing of the soul from sin, is required of us. A renewed conscience is sensi- ble ofa pollution in every sin, and is not freed from the shame of it without a particular application unto the blood of Christ. It comes by faith to the fountain set open for sin and uncleanness, as the sick man to the pool ofhealing waters, and waiteth for a season to be cleansed in it. So David, on the defilement he had contracted by his great sins, addresseth himself unto God with that prayer, " Purge me with hyssop, and " I shall be clean, wash me, and I shall be whiter than " snow," Psal. li. 7. He alludeth unto the purging of the leprous person, the ordinance whereof is institu- ted, Lev..xiv. 5, 6, 7. or that more general institution for the purification of all legal uncleanness, by the wa- ter of separation made of the ashes of the red heifer, Numb. xix. 4, 5, 6. which our apostle hath respect un- to, Heb. ix. 14.. For both these purifications were made by the sprinkling of blood or water with hyssop. It is plain, I say, that he alludeth unto these institu- tions; but, it is as plain, they are not the things which he intended). For there was not in the law any purg- ingby hyssop for persons guilty of such sins as he lay under. And therefore he professeth, in the close of the Psalm, that sacrifice and burnt-offering God would not accept, in his case, ver. 16. It was therefore that which was signified by those institutions which hemade his application unto; namely, really to the blood of Christ, by which he might be justified from all things, from which he could not bejustfed by the law ofMoses, Acts xiii. 39. and so likewise purified. In likemanner do all believers make an actual application unto the blood of Christ for the purging away of their sins, which, until it is done, they have a conscience of sin, that is condemning them for sin, and filling them with shame and fear, Heb. x. 1, 2, 3. Sect. 6. And this actual application by faith unto the blood of Christ for cleansing, the mystery whereof is scorned by many as a thing fanatical and unintelligi- ble, consists in these four things: (1.) A spiritual view crifice, as proposed in the promises of the gospel for our cleansing and purification, Look untome, saith he, and be ye saved, Isa. xlv. 22. which respects the whole work of our salvation, and all the means thereof Our way of coming unto our interest therein, is by looking . to him, namely, as he is proposed unto us in the pro- mise of the gospel. For, " as the serpent was lifted up a by Moses in the wilderness, so was he in his sacri- " five on the cross lifted up," John iii. 14. And so, in the gospel, is he represented unto us, Gal. iii. 1. And the means whereby they were healed in the wilder- ness, was by looking unto the serpent that was lifted up. Herein then doth faith first act itself, by a spiritual view and due consideration of the blood of Christ, as proposed unto us in the gospel, for the only means of our purification. And the more we abide in this con- templation, the more effectual will our success be in our application thereto. (2.) Faith actually relieth on his blood, for the real effecting of that great work and end for which it is proposed unto us. For God sets him forth, as to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, as offered, Rom. iii. 25. so to be our sanctifica- tion, through faith in his blood, as sprinkled. And the establishingof this especial faith in our souls is that which the apostle aims at in his excellent reasoning, Heb. ix. 13; t4. And his conclusion unto that pur- pose is so evident, that he encourageth us thereon to draw nigh in the full assurance offaith, Heb. x. 22. (3.) Faith worketh herein by fervent prayer, as it doth in its whole address unto God, with respect unto his promises; because, for all these things God will be sought unto by the house of Israel. By this means the soul brings itself nigh unto its own mercy. And this we are directed unto, Heb. iv. 15, 16. (4.) An acqui- escency in the truth and faithfulness of God, for clean- sing by the blood of Christ, whence we are freed from discouraging perplexing shame, and have boldness in the presence of God. 4. The Holy Ghost actually communicates the clean- sing, purifying virtue of the blood of Christ unto our souls and consciences, wherebywe are freed from shame, and have boldness towards God. For the whole work of the application of the benefits of the mediation of Christ unto believers, is his properly. And these are the things which believers aim at, and intend in all their _ _ ,1
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