Advantages of Knowing Christ (2)

But those who know Christ are not only freed from the condemnation of sin; they are likewise delivered from its reigning power (Rom. 6:14). By nature they were engaged in the service of Satan and their own lusts, just like the Israelites under the bondage of Pharaoh and his taskmasters. They had then no higher aim than the gratification of their own vain desires, their pride and their ambition. 

But it is an advantage connected with knowing Christ, that the covenant with death shall be disannulled, and the agreement with hell shall not stand. A new bent is thenceforward given to all the powers and faculties of the soul, and new objects of delight are sought after, however much the individual comes short in sensibly attaining to them.

‘Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them’ (Ezek. 36:25-27). And again: ‘For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace’ (Rom. 6:14).

Until the sinner is set free from the condemnation of sin, and washed from his filthiness, he is wrapped in filthy garments, and an alien from the commonwealth of the spiritual Israel. And as the leper, under the law, was shut out from the camp until the priest pronounced him clean, so the sinner can never be admitted unto a participation of the benefits of the true church, until the filthy garments of his sins are taken away, and until he is clothed with a change of raiment.

Now the benefits resulting to an individual from having his sins pardoned, his corruptions in a measure subdued, and admittance given him into the commonwealth of the spiritual Israel, are of the most precious nature. He is henceforth a person under the discipline of the covenant of grace; he has God the Father for his father, Christ as his elder brother: or, still nearer, the church’s Maker is her husband, and the Holy Spirit her instructor, guide, and comforter. The language of Christ, with respect to each of his people, is, ‘I will never leave thee nor forsake thee’ (Heb. 13:5).

‘For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the LORD that hath mercy on thee’ (Isa. 54:10); ‘The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee’ (Jer. 31:3).

Christ loved his church when she was polluted in her blood; and now he views her as comely, through his own comeliness which he has put upon her (Ezek. 16:14).

But the advantages resulting from knowing Christ or not confined to the present life. They reach further, even to eternity. The Lord’s people, while here, how many causes of sorrow - their folly makes it so; but at death they shall be freed from everything that occasions them anguish or distress. Christ has promised to bring them to the place which he has himself gone before to prepare (John 14:2-3).

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And if the advantages of knowing Christ are so many, and so unspeakably precious, how great must their loss be who continue ignorant of and unacquainted with him! It amounts to nothing less than having God an enemy to them, and being consequently exposed to his wrath and fury on account of their sins.

Such as are ignorant of Christ will, unless they repent, experience what it is to lie under the curse and heavy wrath of God throughout eternity, as the associates of the devil and his angels.

All who die ignorant of Christ will be cast, bound in the filthy garments of their sins, into the lake the burneth with fire and brimstone, and the smoke of their torment shall ascend for ever and ever. A single ray of hope shall never dawn upon the outer darkness into which those who die ignorant of Christ shall be cost. And oh! who can at all describe the misery of such a condition! The tongues of men and of angels cannot declare it; for it is nothing less than an eternal separation from God, the fountain of life and of all goodness. And ‘who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?’ (Isa. 33:14).

But now Christ’s invitation is, ‘Repent and believe the gospel.’ There is efficacy enough in his blood to cleanse us from our sins. His voice to sinners is, ‘Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.’ ‘Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon’ (Isa. 55:6-7).