preaching of the gospel is as it were the scattering of the vir tue of the blood of Jesus upon all them that will receive it by faith; but a great many hear, that are not partakers of it, for all that. It is not enough that you come under the sacraments, and use them, though they are the means of the sprink ling of the blood of Jesus. Baptism is a representation of the washing virtue of this blood; the Lord's supper, especially the cup in it, is a representation of the nourishing virtue of this blood shed for the sins of men; yet people may be under both these, they may be baptised, and receive the Lord's supper frequently, and yet not be sprinkled with the blood of Christ. The apostle speaks of an Old Testament instance, and applies it with respect to New Testament professors, 1 Cor. x. first five verses. Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; and were all baptised unto Moses in the cloud, and in the sea;`and did all eat the spiritual meat, and did all drink the same spiritual drink. Why doth the apostle call it spiritual meat, and spiritual drink? Was it not true, real, nourishing bread that fell from heaven? and was it not true, wholesome water that flowed from the rock? Surely they were not fed by dreams and imaginations, but they were real creatures of God; and it may be bread better than ever man eat, and water better than ever man drank for the more eminently the hand of God appeared in forming those creatures, the better it is likely they were. Why then doth the apostle call them spiritual meat, and spiritual drink? Because they were of a spiritual signification : For they drank of that spiritual rock that followed them, and that rock was Christ. Never a time that an Israelite was hungry but he did eat Christ; never a time that he was thirsty but he drank Christ; that is, spiritually and typically. But notwithstanding this, the apostle adds, With many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness. They liked the waters well enough, and were nourished and refreshed by them, but the spiritual signification of them they did not understand; and God was not well pleased with them, and they were overthrown for their rebellion. And just so is it with professors now. We have a great many

words and much talking about the seals of the covenant, baptism and the Lord's supper; about the way, time, means, and methods of them; but here is the main business, Where is the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus? hath the virtue of this blood come on you or not? that is the main question: a question I would say these two things about. It is of the greatest importance, and of great difficulty. 1st, It is of the greatest importance to be determined; for our eternal state stands and depends upon it. You will not say any man can be saved that is not elected; so no man can be saved who is not sprinkled with the blood of Jesus; and who is not sanctified by the Spirit: for all these three are of equal necessity about our salvation. 2dly, This is a matter of great difficulty to be resolved, because it is about a great mystery. People commonly mistake about mysteries, and are in the dark concerning them. Jesus Christ himself is a great mystery, and the communication of his virtue to men is a great mystery; and the application of it to the soul is a great mystery. Indeed, Sirs, it is but in the dark that we know how we are saved; we know that Jesus Christ is the only Saviour, and that his saving power is put forth upon us, or we cannot be saved; but how this is done, who can tell? The poor creature that touched the hem of Christ's garment, found virtue coming forth from him, Mark v. 28, 29. for the cure of her body; and Christ found virtue going from him on her faith; but the poor woman could not give a rational account how this came to pass, that her touching by faith the hem of Christ's garment should bring in this saving, healing power to her body. Many touched Christ as well as she, but none touched him so as she did: she had a special errand to him, and special business with him, and made a special application to him that touch she gave with her finger to the border of his garment reached secretly and powerfully to the heart and love of our Lord Jesus Christ, and drew forth relief immediately. Of these three things that are in my text, the greatest difficulty lies in knowing the two first; for election is never rightly known immediately by itself, but by its effects; and the sprinkling of blood cannot be immediately known by us, but by our application to it, and the fruits of it upon us. But

the sanctification of the Spirit is quite another thing; it is something that falls upon ourselves, and upon our nature, regenerating us, and framing us to a newness of life. I shall offer a few things at this time concerning the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus; whereby you may know whether you have gotten it or not.

1. All high-prizers of, and praisers for it, have this sprinkling of the blood of Christ upon them. This I will prove; for wheresoever the virtue of Christ's blood is put forth, there it is known, and wheresoever it is known, it is highly esteemed. I do not say, that the man knows he hath got it; but he that hath it feels something that makes him prize it. greatly. We preach Christ crucified, saith the apostle, to the Jews a stumbling block, and to the Greeks foolishness, 1 Cor. i. 23. They saw nothing at all in Christ crucified, in a man that was slain and hanged on a tree without the gates of Jerusalem, that the apostles should go up and down the world and preach salvation through him; they saw nothing of glory in this; But, saith the apostle, to them that are called, Christ the wisdom of God and the power of God. "In that day that I "was in the dark, would the apostle say, I was an enemy "to Jesus Christ, and I thought as little of him as any of you "now do; but after I was called by his grace, the matter "was quite otherwise; Christ was then to me the power "God, and the wisdom of God." God never did a wiser, thing in this world than in saving men by Christ Jesus; and God never put forth his power more effectually than in making Jesus Christ the great mean of saving a lost world.

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2dly, Would you know whether you ever had any thing of the sprinkling of the blood of Christ upon you, enquire, whether ever you had any thing that this blood is sprinkled, upon; What is that? It is upon a guilty conscience. The blood of Christ is only applied, and only applicable to a guilty conscience; to a man condemned by the law, seeing and judging himself as ripe and ready for hell; this is the only man that can be sprinkled by the blood of Jesus. How much more, saith the apostle, Heb. ix. 14. shall the blood of Christ purge your conscience from dead works, &c.?" You were wearied with dead works, and burdened thereby, and ther

"this sprinkling came upon you." Oh what a trifling creature is a man with a secure conscience! he plays, as it were, with Jesus Christ. He may talk of Jesus Christ, and com mend him as Lord and King; but for the blood of Jesus Christ, he sees no need of it, nor has he any use for it. No man can apply to this blood but a man who finds he has a guilty conscience; that hath his conscience as a serpent or vulture gnawing within; this is the man that values the blood of sprinkling: For without the shedding of blood, there could be no remission of sins, Heb. ix. 22.

3dly, Would you know whether this blood of sprinkling hath come upon you, and that its virtue has reached you, you may know it this way; Are you come to it, and are you users of it? Christ has many sweet names, engaging names, to poot sinners to make an errand to him. Every name that Christ hath, a poor sinner should make an errand to him under that name. But the chief errand that every poor sinner should have to Christ is in respect to his own sins; now it is this name of the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus that makes him amiable to a poor sinner, and therefore he would fain come near to him that he may get it. To give you a similitude: When Moses sprinkled the blood of the covenant upon the people, Exod. xxiv. 6, 7, 8. you must not think that the blood of the goat or bullock could go any great way in sprinkling the people; there was no necessity that every one of the Israelites should have the mark of the blood on their raiment; but it was their duty to get as near as they could to that external sprinkling, that sanctified to the purifying of the flesh. So in this gospel Christ's blood is held forth; and people should come as near to it as they can, praying and looking that the virtue of it may reach them Ye are come, saith the apostle, Heb: xii. 24. to the blood of sprinkling. That is your part and duty; and if this blood of springling comes on you, ye are saved, and that is your mercy. We should labour to get nearer to Jesus, and we should reckon it a great happiness if we might but once touch the hem of his garment; but to touch his heart, to touch his heart's blood that was shed for the remission of the sins of many! blessed be the shedder; blessed be the sender; blessed be the comer! The Lord hath

bought his flock with his own blood, and a great many of them are got safe to heaven, and the rest are following and will be quickly there; and we should long for the day when the Redeemer and the redeemed shall be seen together.

Elect according the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience, and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace be multiplied.

OU

You have heard in the opening of these words what respect they have to the preceding. The sprinkling of the blood of Christ is to be understood as relating to the first words of the verse, Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father; and not unto the sanctification of the Spirit. The sprinkling of the blood of Jesus doth necessarily precede the sanctification of the Spirit: upon that account it was, that I entered on the handling of it before the other. You have heard of the blood of Jesus Christ, and of the sprinkling of it, and of the great interest that it hath in our salvation. I began to apply this, and insisted on two uses. 1st, I called you to a spiritual right, the admiring this great work of God, that our salvation comes by the sprinkled blood of Jesus. When sin came into the world, no sinful person could be saved, unless a sinless man had died for him; and a sinless man's dying could never have saved them; but this man must be God, or rather God's own Son must be man, and so shed the blood of God. I know we live in a corrupt day, wherein the grand fundamentals of the gospel are warmly debated, and most wickedly opposed, and this virtuous blood of Christ most wickedly blasphemed; an abomination that God will visit for, in his own time: happy they who are innocent of the guilt! 2dly, I called you to try, whether or not this blood of Christ be sprinkled on you: Be persuaded, that it was of ab