I scarcely know which branch of the subject is the more important of the two, and I propose to-day {27} to consider the latter, and to draw your thoughts to the power of the blood, as taught us in these familiar and most sacred words, ‘The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.’ May God so teach us by His Spirit, that we may know in our own experience the cleansing power of the blood of Christ! There are two questions which will require our careful study, in order to a right understanding of the text. To whom do the words apply? and what do they mean? To whom do they apply? They are often applied in a loose and haphazard way to all kinds of characters to whom they do not in the least belong, as drunkards, Sabbath-breakers, and all descriptions of unconverted men. But the most cursory glance at the text shows that it has no reference to such characters, and applies exclusively to those who are walking in the light. ‘If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.’ The blessing is made in this text entirely dependent on our walking in the light; and if we are not walking in the light, it does not belong to us. The man who is still living the life of the unconverted cannot claim it, for he has never known the light, and his poor soul is still darkened by sin; nor can the backslider, who once saw the light, and now has turned back into the darkness of the world; for, though he was in the light once, he is not walking in it now. There are other passages which apply to such persons, and invite them to reconciliation through the precious blood of Christ: but this text does not. It applies to those who have been brought into the light, and now are walking in it; not seeking it, nor groping after it, but in it,—and enjoying a holy fellowship both with God’s people and with God. There cannot be a higher standard, or, to use modern terms, a higher life. It is a life in the very presence of God Himself,—a life in which every step is lightened by the sunbeam of His love. Fellowship, light, love, and joy, abound through the whole of it. The persons possessing it are happy, loving, peaceful believers, rejoicing in the sacred privilege of companionship with God; and yet of them the text declares, ‘The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.’