In the cleansing of the leper, several things were necessary; as running water, cedar wood, scarlet and hyssop, and the finger of the priest; but it was the blood that gave efficacy to the whole. So it is in the purification of the conscience. Without the shedding of blood, the leper could not be cleansed; without the shedding of blood, the conscience cannot be purged. “The blood of Christ” seals every precept, every promise, every warning, of the New Testament. “The blood of Christ” renders the Scriptures “profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” “The blood of Christ” gives efficiency to the pulpit; and when “Jesus Christ and him crucified” is shut out, the virtue is wanting which heals and restores the soul. It is only through the crucifixion of Christ, that “the old man” is crucified in the believer. It is only through his obedience unto death, even the death of the cross, that our dead souls are quickened, to serve God in newness of life. Here rest our hopes. “The foundation of God standeth sure.” The bill of redemption being presented by Christ, was read by the prophets, and passed unanimously in both houses of parliament. It had its final reading in the lower house, when Messiah hung on Calvary; and passed three days afterward, when he rose from the dead. It was introduced to the upper house by the Son of God himself, who appeared before the throne “as a lamb newly slain,” and was carried by acclamation of the heavenly hosts. Then it became a law of the kingdom of heaven, and the Holy Ghost was sent down to establish it in the hearts of men. It is “the perfect law of liberty,” by which God is reconciling the world unto himself. It is “the law of the Spirit of Life,” by which he is “purging our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.” III. The end of this purification is twofold:—that we may cease from dead works, and serve the living God. 1. The works of unrenewed souls are all “dead works,” can be no other than “dead works,” because the agents are “dead in trespasses and sins.” They proceed from “the carnal mind,” which “is enmity against God,” which “is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.” How can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit, or a corrupt fountain send forth pure water?