Works of John Bunyan – The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness 0f the Loss Thereof; How Christ Manages The Office Of An Advocate.141

 

OBJECTIONS REMOVED

Second Objection. But notwithstanding what you have said, this sin is a deadly stick in my way; it will not be out of my mind; my cause is bad, but Christ will desert me.

Answer. It is true that sin is, and will be, a deadly stick and stop to faith; attempt to exercise it on Christ as considered under which of his offices or relations you will; and, above all, the sin of unbelief is "the sin that doth so," or most "easily beset us" (Heb 12:1, 2). And no marvel; for it never acted alone, but is backed, not only with guilt and ignorance but also with carnal sense and reason. He that is ignorant of this knows but little of himself or what believing is. He that undertakes to believe sets upon the hardest task that ever was proposed to man; not because the things imposed upon us are unreasonable or unaccountable, but because the heart of man, the more true anything is, the more it sticks and stumbles thereat; and, says Christ, "Because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not" (John 8:45). Hence believing is called laboring, (Heb 4:11); and it is the sorest labor, at times that any man can take in hand because assaulted with the greatest oppositions; but believe thou must, be the labor never so hard, and that not only in Christ in a general way, but in him as to his several offices, and to this of his being an Advocate in particular, else some sins and some temptations will not, in their guilt or vexatious trouble, easily depart from thy conscience; no, not by promise, nor by thy attempts to apply the same by faith. And this the text insinuates by its setting forth of Christ as Advocate, as the only or best and most speedy way of relief to the soul in certain cases.

There is, then, an order that thou must observe in exercising thy soul in a way of believing.

1. Thou must believe unto justification in general, and for this, thou must direct thy soul to the Lord Christ as he is a sacrifice for sin; and as a Priest offering that sacrifice, so as a sacrifice thou shalt see him appeasing Divine displeasure for thy sin, and as a Priest spreading the skirt of his garment over thee, for the covering of thy nakedness; thus being clothed, thou shalt not be found naked.

2. This, when thou hast done as well as thou canst, thou must, in the next place, keep thine eye upon the Lord Christ as improving, as Priest in heaven, the sacrifice which he offered on earth for the continuing thee in a state of justification in thy lifetime, notwithstanding those common infirmities that attend thee, and to which thou art incident in all thy holy services or best performances (Rom 5:10; Exo 28:31-38). For therefore is he a Priest in heaven, and by his sacrifices interceding for thee.

3. But if thy foot slipped, if it slipped greatly, then know thou it will not be long before a bill is in heaven preferred against thee by the accuser of the brethren; wherefore then thou must have recourse to Christ as Advocate, to plead before God thy judge against the devil thine adversary for thee.

4. And as to the badness of thy cause, let nothing move thee, save to humility and self-abasement, for Christ is glorified by being concerned for thee; yea, the angels will shout aloud to see him bring thee off. For what greater glory can we conceive Christ to obtain and Advocate, than to bring off his people when they have sinned, notwithstanding Satan so charging of them for it as he doth?

He gloried when he was going to the cross to die; he went up with a shout and the sound of a trumpet, to make intercession for us; and shall we think that by his being an Advocate he receives no additional glory? It is glory to him, doubtless, to bear the title of an Advocate, and much more to plead and prosper for us against our adversary, as he doth.

5. And, I say again, for thee to think that Christ will reject thee for that thy cause is bad, is a kind of thinking blasphemy against this his office and his Word; for what doth such a man but side with Satan, while Christ is pleading against him? I say, it is as the devil would have it, for it puts strength into his plea against us, by increasing our sin and wickedness. But shall Christ take our cause in hand, and shall we doubt of good success?

This is to count Satan stronger than Christ; and that he can longer abide to oppose than Christ can to plead for us. Wherefore, away with, it, not only as to the notion, but also as to the heart and root thereof. Oh! When shall Jesus Christ our Lord be honored by us as he ought? This dastardly heart of ours, when shall it be more subdued and trodden under the foot of faith? When shall Christ ride Lord, and King, and Advocate, upon the faith of his people, as he should? He is exalted before God, before angels, and above all the power of the enemy; there is nothing that comes behind but the faith of his people.