THE INTERCESSION OF CHRIST, AND WHO ARE PRIVILEGED IN IT.
However strange it may appear, it is a solemn fact that the heart of man, unless prepared by a sense of the exceeding sinfulness of sin, rejects Christ as a complete Saviour. The pride of human nature will not suffer it to fall, helpless and utterly undone, into the arms of Divine mercy. Man prefers a partial savior—one who has done so much that, with the sinner's aid, the work might be completed. No such were the opinions of John Bunyan; the furnace of sharp conviction had burned up this proud dross; he believed the testimony of Scripture, that from the crown of the head to the soles of the feet all nature is corrupted; so that out of the unsanctified heart of man proceed evil thoughts, murders, and the sad catalogue of crimes which our Lord enumerates, and which defile our best efforts after purity of heart and life.
No sinner will ever totally rely upon the Saviour until he is sensible of his own perishing state; hanging by the brittle thread of life over the yawning gulf of perdition; sinking in that sin which will swallow him up in those awful torments that await the transgressor; feeling that sin has fitted him as stubble for the fire; then it is that the cry proceeds from his heart, Lord, save, I perish; and then, and not till then, are we made willing to receive 'Christ as a complete Saviour' to the uttermost, not of his ability, but of our necessity. This was the subject of all of Mr. Bunyan's writings and, doubtless, of all his preaching. It was to direct sinners to the Lamb of God, who alone can take away sin. This little treatise was one of those ten 'excellent manuscripts' that, at Bunyan's demise, were found prepared for the press. It was first published in 1692 by his friends E. Chandler, J. Wilson, and C. Doe.
It is limited to a subject that is too often lost sight of because it is within the veil—the intercession of Christ as the finishing work of a sinner's salvation. Many persons limit the 'looking unto Jesus' to beholding him upon the cross, a common popish error; but this is not enough; we must, in our minds, follow him to the unseen world and thus ascend to a risen Saviour, at the right hand of the Father, making intercession for our daily sins. And he is our ONLY intercessor, and it is a rejection of him for us to seek the aid of another. Whoever was mad enough to ask Moses to intercede for him, surely he is as able as Mary or any other saint?
To atone for sin calls for the amazing price of the blood of Christ, who was 'God manifest in the flesh.' He undertook the work by covenant, and all the'slaves form part of his mystical body, thus perfectly obeying the law in him. He poured out his life to open a fountain for sin and uncleanness; as they are liable to pollution in their passage through the world, he is only able, and he ever liveth, to make intercession for their transgressions. Thus he becomes a complete Saviour, and will crown, with an eternal weight of glory, all those who put their trust in him. Beautiful, soul-softening, and heart-warming thoughts abound in this little work, which cannot fail to make a lasting impression on the reader. Bunyan disclaims 'the beggarly art of complimenting' in things of such solemnity. He describes the heart as unweldable, a remarkable expression drawn from his father's trade as a blacksmith; nothing but grace can so heat it as to enable the hammer of conviction to weld it to Christ, and when thus welded, it becomes one with him.
There is hope for a returning backslider in a complete Saviour; he combines the evidence of two men, the coming and the returning sinner; he has been, like Jonah, in the belly of hell; his sins, like talking devils, have driven him back to the Saviour. Sin brings its own punishment, from which we escape by keeping on the narrow path. Good works save us from temporal miseries, whichever follow an indulgence in sin; but if we fall, we have an Advocate and Intercessor to lift us up; still, if thou lovest thy soul, slight not the knowledge of hell, for that, with the law, are the spurs which Christ useth to prick souls forward to himself. Gather up your heels and mend your pace, or those spurs will be in your sides. Take heed, O persecutor; like Saul, thou art exceeding mad, and hell is thy bedlam. Take heed of a false faith; none is true but that which is acquired by kneeling, searching, and seeking truth as for hidden treasure. Death is God's bailiff; he will seize you without warning, but with the saints, the grave's mouth is the final parting place between grace and sin. Forget that a good improvement will make your little grace thrive. Reader, may Divine grace indelibly fix these wholesome truths in our minds.
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