Spurgeon: July PM
* 07/23/PM
"The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin."
--1 John 1:7
"Cleanseth," says the text--not " shall cleanse." There are
multitudes who think that as a dying hope they may look forward
to pardon. Oh! how infinitely better to have cleansing now than
to depend on the bare possibility of forgiveness when I come to
die. Some imagine that a sense of pardon is an attainment only
obtainable after many years of Christian experience. But
forgiveness of sin is a present thing--a privilege for this
day, a joy for this very hour. The moment a sinner trusts Jesus
he is fully forgiven. The text, being written in the present
tense, also indicates continuance ; it was "cleanseth"
yesterday, it is "cleanseth" to-day, it will be "cleanseth"
tomorrow: it will be always so with you, Christian, until you
cross the river; every hour you may come to this fountain, for
it cleanseth still. Notice, likewise, the completeness of the
cleansing, "The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from
all sin"--not only from sin, but "from all sin." Reader, I
cannot tell you the exceeding sweetness of this word, but I pray
God the Holy Ghost to give you a taste of it. Manifold are our
sins against God. Whether the bill be little or great, the same
receipt can discharge one as the other. The blood of Jesus
Christ is as blessed and divine a payment for the transgressions
of blaspheming Peter as for the shortcomings of loving John; our
iniquity is gone, all gone at once, and all gone for ever.
Blessed completeness! What a sweet theme to dwell upon as one
gives himself to sleep.
"Sins against a holy God;
Sins against His righteous laws;
Sins against His love, His blood;
Sins against His name and cause;
Sins immense as is the sea-
From them all He cleanseth me."