III. This brings us to the third point, upon which I must be very brief, and the third point is—THE ONE CONDITION. What says one “Do you preach a conditional salvation?” Yes I do, there is the one condition “Where I see the blood I will pass over you.” What a blessed condition! it does not say, when you see the blood, but when I see it. Thine eye of faith may be so dim, that thou canst not see the blood of Christ. Ay, but God’s eye is not dim: He can see it, yea he must see it; for Christ in heaven is always presenting his blood before his Father’s face. The Israelite could not see the blood; he was inside the house; he could not see what was on the lintel and the doorpost; but God could see it; and this is the only condition of the sinner’s salvation—God’s seeing the blood; not your seeing it. O how safe, then, is every one that trusts in the Lord Jesus Christ. It is not his faith that is the condition, not his assurance; it is the simple fact, that Calvary is set perpetually before the eyes of God in a risen and ascended Saviour. “When I see the blood, I will pass over you.” Fall on your knees then in prayer, ye doubting souls, and let this be your plea:—”Lord, have mercy upon me for the blood’s sake. I cannot see it as I could desire, but Lord thou seest it, and thou hast said, ‘When I see it, I will pass over you.’ Lord, thou seest it this day, pass over my sin, and forgive me for its dear sake alone.”
IV. And now, lastly, WHAT IS THE LESSON. The lesson of the text is to the Christian this. Christian, take care that thou dost always remember, that nothing but the blood of Christ can save thee. I preach to myself to-day what I preach to you. I often find myself like this:—I have been praying that the Holy Spirit might rest in my heart and cleanse out an evil passion, and presently I find myself full of doubts and fears, and when I ask the reason, I find it is this:—I have been looking to the Spirit’s work until I put the Spirit’s work where Christ’s work ought to be. Now, it is a sin to put your own works where Christ’s should be; but it is just as much a sin to put the Holy Spirit’s work there. You must never make the Spirit of God an anti-Christ, and you virtually do that when you put the Spirit’s work as the groundwork of your faith. Do you not often hear Christian men say, “I cannot believe in Christ to-day as I could yesterday, for yesterday I felt such sweet and blessed enjoyments.” Now, what is that but putting your frames and feelings where Christ ought to be. Remember, Christ’s blood is no more able to save you in a good frame than in a bad frame. Christ’s blood must be your trust, as much when you are full of joy as when you are full of doubt. And here it is that your happiness will be in danger, by beginning to put your good frames and good feelings in the room of the blood of Christ. O, brethren, if we could always live with a single eye fixed on the Cross, we should always be happy; but when we get a little peace, and a little joy, we begin to prize the joy and peace so much, that we forget the source whence they come. As Mr. Brooks says, “A husband that loves his wife will, perhaps, often give her jewels and rings; but suppose she should sit down and begin to think of her jewels and rings so much that she should forget her husband, it would be a kind husband’s business to take them away from her so that she might fix her affections entirely on him.” And it is so with us. Jesus gives us jewels of faith and love, and we get trusting to them, and he takes them away in order that we may come again as guilty, helpless sinners, and put our trust in Christ. To quote a verse I often repeat—I believe the spirit of a Christian should be, from his first hour to his last, the spirit of these two lines:—
“Nothing in my hand I bring,
Simply to thy cross I cling.”
That is the lesson to the saint.
But another minute; there is a lesson here to the sinner. Poor, trembling, guilty self-condemned sinner, I have a word from the Lord for thee. “The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us,” that is you and me, “cleanseth us from all sin.” That “us” includes you, if now you are feeling your need of a Saviour. Now that blood is able to save you, and you are bidden simply to trust that blood, and you shall be saved. But I hear you say, “Sir,” you said, “If I feel my need. Now I feel that I do not feel, I only wish I did feel my need enough.” Well do not bring your feelings then, but trust only in the blood. If you can rely simply on the blood of Christ, whatever your feelings may be, or may not be, that blood is able to save. But you are saying, “How am I to be saved? What mush I do?” Well there is nothing that you can do. You must leave off doing altogether, in order to be saved. There must be a denial of all your doings. You must get Christ first, and then you may do as much as you like. But you must not trust in your doings. Your business is now to lift up your heart in prayer like this:—”Lord, thou hast shown me something of myself, show me something of my Saviour.” See the Saviour hanging on the cross, turn your eye to him, and say, “Lord, I trust thee I have nothing else to trust to, but I rely on thee; sink or swim, my Saviour, I trust thee.” And as surely sinner, as thou canst put thy trust in Christ, thou art as safe as an apostle or prophet. Not death nor hell can slay that man whose firm reliance is at the foot of the cross. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.” “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; he that believeth not shall be damned.” He that believeth shall be saved, be his sins never so many; he that believeth not shall be damned, be his sins never so few, and be his virtues never so many. Trust in Jesus now! Sinner, trust in Jesus only.
“Not all the blood of beasts
On Jewish altars slain
Could give the guilty conscience peace,
Or wash away the stain.
But Christ, the heavenly Lamb,
Takes all our sins away;
A sacrifice of nobler name
And richer blood than they.”
“This article originally appeared here at Bible Bulletin Board.”
