Works of John Bunyan: The Greatness of The Soul And Unspeakableness of the Loss Thereof; Why The Justified Need An Intercessor 210.

 

And he that is well acquainted with himself will do this readily; though light heads, and such as are not acquainted with the desperate evil that is in their natures, will sacrifice to their own net. But such will, so sacrifice for a while. Sir Death is coming, and he will put them into the view of what they see not now and will feed sweetly upon them because they did not trust the Lord. And therefore, ascribe thou the glory of preserving thy soul in the faith hitherto to that salvation which Christ Jesus, our Lord, obtained for you by his intercession.

7. Are those already justified by the blood of Christ, such as those who still need to be saved by his intercession? Then is this also to be inferred from hence, that saints should look to him for that saving that they shall yet need betwixt this and the day of their dissolution; yea, from henceforward, even to the day of judgment. I say they should still look to him for the remaining part of their salvation, or for that of their salvation which is yet behind; and let them look for it with confidence, for that it is in a faithful hand; and for thy encouragement to look and hope for the completion of thy salvation in glory, let me present thee with a few things—

(1.) The hardest or worst part of the work of thy Saviour is over; his bloody work, his bearing of thy sin and curse, his loss of the light of his Father’s face for a time; his dying upon the cursed tree, that was the worst, the sorest, the hardest, and most difficult part of the work of redemption; and yet this he did willingly, cheerfully, and without thy desires; yea, this he did, as considering those for whom he did it in a state of rebellion and enmity to him.

(2.) Consider, also, that he has made a beginning with thy soul to reconcile thee to God, and to that end has bestowed his justice upon thee, put his Spirit within thee, and began to make the unwieldable mountain and rock, thy heart, to turn towards him and desire after him; to believe in him and rejoice in him.

(3.) Consider, also, that some comfortable pledges of his love thou hast already received, namely, as to feel the sweetness of his love, as to see the light of his countenance, as to be made to know his power in the raising of thee when thou was down, and how he has made thee stand, while hell has been pushing at thee, utterly to overthrow thee.

(4.) Thou mayest consider, also, that what remains behind the work of thy salvation is in his hands, as it is the easiest part, so the most comfortable, and that part which will more immediately issue in his glory, and therefore he will mind it.

(5.) That which is behind is also safer in his hand than if it were in thine own; he is wise, he is powerful, he is faithful, and therefore will manage that part that is lacking to our salvation well until he has completed it. His love for thee has made him say that ‘he putteth no trust in thee’; he knows that he can himself bring thee to his kingdom most surely; and therefore he has not left that work to thee, no, not any part thereof. (Job 5:18, 15:15)

Live in hope, then, in a lively hope, that since Christ is risen from the dead, he lives to make intercession for thee, and that thou shalt reap the blessed benefit of this twofold salvation that is wrought, and that is working out for thee, by Jesus Christ our Lord. And thus have we been treated to the benefit of his intercession, in that he can save to the uttermost. And this leads me to the third particular.

Tagge

Works of John Bunyan: The Greatness of The Soul And Unspeakableness of the Loss Thereof; Why The Justified Need An Intercessor, 209.

 

5. Are those who are already justified by the blood of Christ yet, such as those who need to be saved by his intercession? Then, hence, I infer that Christ is not only the beginner but the completer of our salvation; or, as the Holy Ghost calls him, ‘the author and finisher of our faith,’ (Heb 12:2); or, as it calls him again, ‘the author of eternal salvation.’ (Heb 5:9) Of salvation throughout, from the beginning to the end, from first to last. His hands have laid the foundation of it in his own blood, and his hands shall finish it by his intercession. (Zech 4:9) As he has laid the beginning fast, so he shall bring forth the headstones with shoutings, and we shall cry. Grace, grace, at last, salvation only belongs to the Lord. (Zech 4:7, Psa 3:8, Isa 43:11)

Many there be that begin with grace, and end with works, and think THAT is the only way. Indeed works will save from temporal punishments, when their imperfections are purged from them by the intercession of Christ; but to be saved and brought to glory, to be carried through this dangerous world, from my first moving after Christ till I set my foot within the gates of paradise, this is the work of my Mediator, of my high priest and intercessor; it is he that fetches us again when we are run away; it is he that lifted us up when the devil and sin have thrown us down; it is he that quickened us when we grow cold; it is he that comforted us when we despair; it is he that obtains fresh pardon when we have contracted sin; and he that purges our consciences when they are loaden with guilt. (Eze 34:16, Psa 145:14)

I know also that rewards do wait for those in heaven who do believe in Christ and shall do well on earth, but this is not a reward of merit, but of grace. We are saved by Christ; brought to glory by Christ; and all our works are no otherwise made acceptable to God but by the person and personal excellencies and works of Christ; therefore, whatever the jewels are, and the bracelets, and the pearls, that thou shalt be adorned with as a reward of service done to God in the world, for them thou must thank Christ, and, before all, confess that he was the meritorious cause thereof. (1 Peter 2:5, Heb 13:15) He saves us and saves our services too. (Rev 5:9-14) They would be all cast back as dung in our faces, were they not rinsed and washed in the blood, were they not sweetened and perfumed in the incense, and conveyed to God himself through the white hand of Jesus Christ; for that is his golden-censer; from thence ascends the smoke that is in the nostrils of God of such a sweet savor. (Rev 77:12–14 8:3,4)

6. Are those already justified by the blood of Christ, such as those who still need to be saved by his intercession? Then hence I infer again, that we that have been saved hitherto, and preserved from the dangers that we have met with since our first conversion to this moment, should ascribe the glory to Jesus Christ, to God by Jesus Christ. ‘I have prayed that thy faith fail not: I pray that thou wouldest keep them from the evil,’ is the true cause of our standing, and of our continuing in the faith and holy profession of the gospel to this very day. Wherefore we must give the glory of all to God by Christ: ‘I will not trust in my bow,’ said David, ‘neither shall my sword save me. But thou hast saved us from our enemies and put them to shame that hated us. In God, we boast all day long and praise thy name forever. Selah’! ‘He always causeth us to triumph in Christ.’ ‘We rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.’ (Psa 44:6-8, 2 Cor 2:14, Phil 3:3) Thus you see that, both in the Old and New Testament, all the glory is given to the Lord, as well for preservation to heaven as for justification of life.

Works of John Bunyan: The Greatness of The Soul And Unspeakableness of the Loss Thereof; Why The Justified Need An Intercessor, 208.

 

3. Are those who are justified by the blood of Christ, such as those who, after that, need to be saved by Christ’s intercession? Then, hence, I infer that it is dangerous to go about anything in our own name and strength. If we would have help from the intercession of Christ, let us take care that we do what we do according to the word of Christ. Do what he bids us as well as we can, as he bids us, and then we need not doubt to have help and salvation in those duties by the intercession of Christ. ‘Do all,’ says the apostle, ‘in the name of the Lord Jesus.’ (Col 3:17) Oh, but then the devil and the world will be most of all offended! Well, well, but if you do nothing but as in his fear, by his Word, in his name, you may be sure of what help his intercession can afford you, and that can afford you much help, not only to begin but to go through with your work in some good measure, as you should; and by that also you shall be secured from those dangers, if not temptations to dangers, that those that go out about business in their own names and strength shall be sure to meet withal.

4. Are those that are justified by the blood of Christ such as, after that, need to be saved by Christ’s intercession? Then, hence I infer again, that God has a great dislike of the sins of his own people, and would fall upon them in judgment and anger much more severely than he doth, were it not for Christ’s intercession. The gospel is not, as some think, a loose and licentious doctrine, nor God’s discipline of his church a negligent and careless discipline; for, though those that believe already have also an intercessor, yet God, to show his detestation against sin, doth often make them feel to purpose the weight of his fingers. The sincere, that fain would walk oft with God, have felt what I say, and that to the breaking of their bones full oft. The loose ones, and those that God loves not, maybe utter strangers as to this; but those that are his own indeed do know it is otherwise.9

‘You only have I known’ above all others, says God, ‘therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.’ (Amos 3:2) God keeps a rigorous house among his children. David found it so, Haman found it so, Job found it so, and the church of God found it so; and I know not that his mind is ever the less against sin, notwithstanding we have an Intercessor. True, our Intercessor saves us from damning evils, from damning judgments; but he neither doth nor will secure us from temporal punishment, from spiritual punishment, unless we watch, deny ourselves, and walk in his fear. I would to God that those who are otherwise minded did but feel, for three or four months, something of what I have felt for several years together for base sinful thoughts! I wish it, I say, if it might be for their good, and for the better regulating of their understandings. But whether they obtain my wish or not, sure I am that God is no countenancer of sin; no, not in his own people; nay, he will bear it least of all in them. And as for others, however, he may for a while have patience towards them, if, perhaps, his goodness may lead them to repentance; yet the day is coming when he will pay the carnal and hypocrites’ home with devouring fire for their offenses.

But if our holy God will not let us go altogether unpunished, though we have so able and blessed an Intercessor, that has always to present God with, on our behalf, so valuable a price of his own blood, now before the throne of grace, what should we have done if there had been no day’s-man, none to plead for us, or to make intercession on our behalf? Read that text, ‘For I am with thee, saith the Lord, to save thee; though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, yet will I not make a full end of thee; but I will correct thee in measure, and will not leave thee altogether unpunished.’ (Jer 30:11) If it be so, I say, what had become of us, if we had had no Intercessor? And what will become of them concerning whom the Lord has said, ‘I will not take up their names into my lips’? (Psa 16:4) ‘I pray not for the world.’ (John 17:9)

Works of John Bunyan: The Greatness of The Soul And Unspeakableness of the Loss Thereof; Why The Justified Need An Intercessor, 207.

 

Imperfect in their Duties.—Further, as Christ Jesus, our Lord, doth save us, by his intercession, from that hurt that would unavoidably come upon us by these, so also, by that, we are saved from the evil that is at any time found in any or all our holy duties and performances that is our duty daily to be found in. That our duties are imperfect, follows upon what was discoursed before; for if our graces be imperfect, how can our duties but be so too?

(1.) Our prayers, how imperfect are they! With how much unbelief are they mixed! How apt is our tongue to run, in prayer, before our hearts! With how much earnestness do our lips move, while our hearts lie within as cold as a clod! Yea, and oftentimes, it is to be feared, we ask for that without mouth that we care not whether we have or not. Where is the man that pursues with all his might what but now he seemed to ask for with all his heart? Prayer has become a shell, a piece of formality, a very empty thing, as to the spirit and life of prayer on this day. I speak now of the prayers of the godly. I once met with a poor woman who, in the greatest of her distresses, told me she used to rise in the night, in cold weather, and pray to God, while she sweats with fears of the loss of her prayers and desires that her soul might be saved. I have heard of many who have played, but of few that have prayed, till they have sweat because they wrestle with God for mercy in that duty.

(2.) There is the duty of almsgiving, another gospel performance; but how poorly is it done in our days! We have so many foolish ways to lay out money, in toys and fools' baubles for our children, that we can spare none, or very little, for the relief of the poor. Also, do not many give that to their dogs, yea, let it lie in their houses until it stinks so vilely that neither dog nor cat will eat it; which, had it been bestowed well in time, might have been succor and nourishment to some poor member of Christ?

(3.) There is hearing of the Word; but, alas! the place of hearing is the place of sleeping with many a fine professor. I have often observed that those who keep shops can briskly attend to a two-penny customer; but when they come themselves to God's market, they spend their time too much in letting their thoughts wander from God's commandments, or in a nasty drowsy way. The heads, also, and hearts of most hearers are to the Word as the sieve is to water; they can hold no sermons, remember no texts, bring home no proofs, and produce none of the sermons to the edification and profit of others. And do not the best take up too much in hearing, and mind too little what, by the Word, God calls for at their hands, to perform it with a good conscience?

(4.) There is faithfulness in callings, faithfulness to brethren, faithfulness to the world, faithfulness to children, to servants, to all, according to our place and capacity. Oh! how little of it is there found in the mouths and lives, to speak nothing of the hearts, of professors.

I will proceed no further in this kind of repetition of things; only thus much give me leave to say over again, even many of the truly godly are very faulty here. But what would they do if there were not one always at the right hand of God, by intercession, taking away these kinds of iniquities?

2. Are those that are justified by the blood of Christ such, after that, as have need also of saving by Christ's intercession? From hence, then, we may infer, that as sin, so Satan will not give over from assaulting the best of the saints.

It is not justification that can secure us from being assaulted by Satan: 'Simon, Simon, Satan has desired to have you.' (Luke 22:31,32) Two things do encourage the devil to set upon the people of God:—

(1.) He knows not who are elect; for all that profess are not, and, therefore, he will make trial, if he can get them into his sieve, whether he can cause them to perish. And great success he hath had this way. Many a brave professor has he overcome; he has cast some of the stars from heaven to earth; he picked one out from among the apostles, and one, as it is thought, from among the seven deacons,8 and many from among Christ's disciples; but how many, think you, nowadays, doth he utterly destroy with his net?

(2.) If it so happened that he cannot destroy, because Christ, by his intercession, prevailed, yet will he set upon the church to defile and afflict it. For (a), If he can but get us to fall, with Peter, then he has obtained that dishonor be brought to God, the weak to be stumbled, the world offended, and the gospel vilified and reproached. Or (b), If he cannot throw up our heels, yet, by buffeting us, he can grieve us, afflict us, put us to pain, fright us, drive us to many doubts, and make our life very uncomfortable unto us, and make us go groaning to our Father's house. But blessed be God for his Christ, and for that 'he ever lived to make intercession for us.'

Works of John Bunyan: The Greatness of The Soul And Unspeakableness of the Loss Thereof; Why The Justified Need An Intercessor, 206.

 

And this is the reason, or one reason, why those that are justified need an intercessor—to wit, to save us from the evil of the sin that remains in our flesh after we are justified by grace through Christ and set free from the law as to condemnation. Therefore, as it is said, we are saved; so it is said, ‘He is able also to save them to the uttermost that comes unto God by him, seeing he ever lived intercession for them.’ The godly, for now, we will call them the godly, though there is yet abundance of sin in them. They feel in themselves many things even after justification by which they are convinced they are still attended with personal, sinful imperfections.

Imperfect in their feelings and inclinations.—(1.) They feel unbelief, fear, mistrust, doubting, desponding, murmurings, blasphemies, pride, lightness, foolishness, avarice, fleshly lusts, heartlessness to good, wicked desires, low thoughts of Christ, too good thoughts of sin, and, at times, too great an itching after the worst of immoralities.

(2.) They feel in themselves an aptness to incline to errors, as to lean to the works of the law for justification; to question the truth of the resurrection and judgment to come; to dissemble and play the hypocrite in the profession, and in performance of duties; to do religious duties rather to please man than God, who tries the heart.

(3.) They feel an inclination in them, in times of trial, to faint under the cross, to seek too much to save themselves, to dissemble the known truth for the obtaining a little favor with men, and to speak things that they ought not, that they may sleep in a whole skin.

(4.) They feel wearisomeness in religious duties, but a natural propensity to things of the flesh. They feel the desire to go beyond bounds both at board, and bed, and bodily exercise and in all lawful recreation.

(5.) They feel in themselves an aptness to take advantage of using lawful things, such as food, raiment, sleep, talk, estates, relations, beauty, wit, parts, and graces, to unlawful ends. These things, with many more of the like kind, the justified man finds and feels in himself, to his humbling and often cast down; and to save him from the destroying evil of these, Christ ever lived to make intercession for him.

[Imperfect in their graces.]—Again; the justified man is imperfect in his graces, and therefore needed to be saved by the intercession of Christ from the bad fruit that that imperfection yields.

Justifying righteousness is accompanied by graces—the graces of the Spirit. Though these graces are not that matter by and through which we are justified, nor any part thereof, that being only the obedience of Christ imputed to us of mere pleasure and goodwill; but, I say, they come when justification comes. (Rom 9) And though they are not so easily discerned at the first, they show forth themselves afterward. But I say, how many soever they are, and how fast soever they grow, their utmost agreement here is but a state short of perfection. None of the graces of God’s Spirit in our hearts can do their work in us without shortness, and that is because of their own imperfections, and also because of the oppositions that they meet with from our flesh.

(1.) Faith, which is the root grace, the grand grace, its shortness is sufficiently manifest by its shortness of apprehension of things about the person, offices, relations, and works of Christ, now in the heavenly place for us. It is also very defective in its fetching of comfort from the Word to us, and in continuing of it with us, when at any time we attain unto it; in its receiving of strength to subdue sin, and in its purifying of the heart, though indeed it doth what it doth in reality, yet how short is it of doing of it thoroughly? Oftentimes, were it not for supplies by the intercession of Christ, faith would fail to perform its office in any measure. (Luke 22:31,32)

(2.) There is hope, another grace of the Spirit bestowed upon us; and how often is that also, as to the excellency of working, made to flag? ‘I shall perish,’ saith David; ‘I am cut off from before thine eyes,’ said he. (Psa 31:22) And now where was his hope, in the right gospel discovery of it? Also, all our fears of men, fears of death, and fears of judgment arise from the imperfections of hope. But from all those faults Christ saves us by his intercessions.

(3.) There is love, that should be in us as hot as fire. It is compared to fire, to fire of the hottest sort; yea, it is said to be hotter than the coals of juniper. (Cant 8:6,7) But who finds this heat in love so much as for one poor quarter of an hour together? Some little flashes, perhaps, some at some times may feel, but where is that constant burning of affection that the Word, the love of God, and the love of Christ call for? yea, and that the necessities of the poor and afflicted members of Christ call for also. Ah! love is cold in these frozen days, and short when it is at the highest.

(4.) The grace of humility, when is it? who has a thimbleful thereof? Where is he that is ‘clothed with humility,’ and that does what he is commanded ‘with all humility of mind’? (1 Peter 5:5, Acts 20:19)

(5.) For zeal, where is that also? Zeal for God against sin, profaneness, superstition, and idolatry. I speak now to the godly, who have this zeal in the root and habit; but oh, how little of it puts forth itself into actions in such a day as this is!

(6.) There is reverence, fear, and standing in awe of God’s Word and judgments, where are the excellent workings thereof to be found? And where it is most, how far short of perfect acts is it?

(7.) Simplicity and godly sincerity also, with how much dirt is it mixed in the best; especially among those of the rich saints, who have got the poor and beggarly art of complimenting? The more compliments, the less sincerity. Many words will not fill a bushel. But ‘in the multitude of words, there wanted not sin.’ (Prov 10:19) Plain men are thin come up in this day; to find a mouth without fraud and deceit now is a rare thing. Thus might one count up all the graces of the Spirit, and show wherein every one of them is scanty and wanting of perfection. Now look, what they want of perfection is supplied with sin and vanity; for there is a fullness of sin and flesh at hand to make up all the vacant places in our souls. There is no place in the souls of the godly but it is filled up with darkness when the light is wanting, and with sin so far forth as grace is wanting. Satan, also, diligently waited to come in at the door, if Careless had left it a little achare. But, oh! the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, who ever lived to make intercession for us, and that, by so doing, saves us from all the imperfect acts and workings of our graces, and from all the advantages that flesh, and sin, and Satan gutted upon us thereby.

Works of John Bunyan: The Greatness of The Soul And Unspeakableness of the Loss Thereof; Who Has Christ as An Advocate? 205.

 

(2.) Wouldst thou know whether Jesus Christ is your advocate? Then I ask again, Hast thou revealed thy cause unto him?-I say, Hast thou revealed thy cause unto him? For he that goes to law for his right must not only go to a lawyer and say, Sir, I am in trouble and am to have a trial at law with my enemy, pray to undertake my cause; but he must also reveal to his lawyer his cause. He must go to him and tell him what matters, how things stand, where the shoe pinches, and so on. Thus did the church of old, and thus doth every true Christian now; for though nothing can be hidden from him, yet he will have things out of thine own mouth; he will have thee to reveal thy matters unto him (Matt 20:32). “O Lord of hosts,” said Jeremiah, “that judges righteously, that tries the reins and the heart, let me see thy vengeance on them; for unto thee have I revealed my cause” (Jer 11:20). And again, “But, O Lord of hosts, that tries the righteous and sees the reins and the heart, let me see thy vengeance on them; for unto thee have I opened my cause” (Jer 20:12). Seest thou here, how saints of old were wont to do? How did they not only generally entreat Christ to plead their cause but, in a particular way, go to him and reveal or open their cause to him?

O! It is excellent to behold how some sinners will do this when they get Christ and themselves in a closet alone, when they, upon their bare knees, are pouring out of their souls before him, or, like the woman in the gospel, telling him all the truth (Mark 5). O! saith the soul, Lord, I have come to thee upon an earnest business; I am arrested by Satan; the bailiff was my own conscience, and I am like to be accused before the judgment seat of God. My salvation lies at stake; I am questioned for my interest in heaven; I am afraid of the judge; my heart condemns me (I John 3:20). My enemy is subtle and wanted not malice to prosecute me to death and then to hell. Also, Lord, I am sensible that the law is against me, for indeed I have horribly sinned, and thus and thus have I done. Here I lie open to law, and there I lie open to law; here I have given the adversary advantage, and there he will surely have a hand against me. Lord, I am distressed; undertake for me! And there are some things that you must be acquainted with about the Advocate before you venture to go thus far with him. (a.) Thou must know him to be a friend, and not an enemy, unto whom thou opens thy heart; and until thou comes to know that Christ is a friend to thee, or to souls in thy condition, thou wilt never reveal thy cause unto him, not thy whole cause unto him. And it is from this that so many that have soul causes hourly depending before the throne of God, and that are in danger every day of eternal damnation, forbear to entertain Jesus Christ for their Advocate, and so wickedly conceal their matters from him; but “he that hides his sins shall not prosper” (Prov 28:13)

Works of John Bunyan – The Greatness of The Soul And Unspeakableness of the Loss Thereof; Who Has Christ as An Advocate? 204.

 

2. But some may object, saying that what has been said as to discovering for whom Christ is an Advocate has been too general and, therefore, would have me come more to particulars; otherwise, they can get no comfort. Well, inquiring soul, so I will, and, therefore, hearken to what I say.

(1.) Wouldest thou know whether Christ is thine Advocate or not? I ask, Hast thou entertained him so to be? When men have suits of law depending on any of the king’s courts above, they entertain their attorney or advocate to plead their cause, and so he pleads for them. I say, has thou entertained Jesus Christ for thy lawyer to plead thy cause? “Plead my cause, O Lord,” said David (Psa 35:1), and again, “Judge me, O God, and plead my cause” (Psa 43:1). This, therefore, is the first thing that I would propose to you: Hast thou, with David, entertained him for thy lawyer, or, with good Hezekiah, cried out, “O Lord, I am oppressed; undertake for me” (Isa 38:14)? What sayest thou, soul? Hast thou been with him, and prayed him to plead thy cause, and cried unto him to undertake for thee? This I call entertaining of him to be thy advocate, and I choose to follow the similitude, both because the Scripture seems to smile upon such a way of discourse, and because thy question doth naturally lead me to it. Wherefore, I ask again, hast thou been with him? Hast thou entertained him? Hast thou desired him to plead thy cause?

Question. Thou wilt say unto me, How should I know that I have done so?

Answer. I answer Art thou sensible that thou hast an action commenced against thee in that high court of justice that is above? I say, Art thou sensible of this? For the defendants all God’s people are defendants not used to entertain their lawyers, but from knowledge, that an action either is, or maybe, commenced against them before the God of heaven. If thou sayest yea, then I ask, Who told thee that thou stands accused for transgression before the judgment-seat of God? I say, Who told thee so? Hath the Holy Ghost, hath the world, or hath thy conscience? For nothing else, as I know of, can bring such tidings to thy soul.

Again; Hast thou found a failure in all others that might have been entertained to plead thy cause? Some make their sighs, their tears, their prayers, and their reformations, their advocates-“Hast thou tried these, and found them wanting?” Hast thou seen thy state to be desperate, if the Lord Jesus doth not undertake to plead thy cause? for Jesus is not entertained so long as men can make a shift without him. But when it comes to this point I perish forever, notwithstanding the help of all, if the Lord Jesus steps not in. Then Lord Jesus, Lord Jesus, good Lord Jesus! undertake for me. Hast thou therefore been with Jesus Christ as concerned in thy soul, as heartily concerned about the action that thou perceives to be commenced against thee?

Question. You will say, How should I know that? Answer. I answer Hast thou well considered the nature of the crime wherewith thou stands charged at the bar of God? Hast thou also considered the justness of the Judge? Again I ask, Hast thou considered what truth, as to matter of fact, there is in the things whereof thou stands accused? Also, Hast thou considered the cunning, the malice, and diligence of thy adversary, with the greatness of the loss thou art like to sustain, shouldst thou with Ahab, in the book of Kings, (I Kings 22:17-23), or with the hypocrites in Isaiah, (Isa 6:5-10), have the verdict of the Lord God go out from the throne against thee? I ask thee these questions because if thou art in the knowledge of these things to seek, or if thou art not deeply concerned about the greatness of the damage that will certainly overtake thee, and that forever, shouldest thou be indeed accused before God, and have none to plead thy cause, thou hast not, nor canst not, let what will come upon thee, have been with Jesus Christ to plead thy cause; and so, let thy case be never so desperate, thou stands alone and hast no helper (Job 30:13, 9:13) Or if thou hast, they, not being the advocate of God’s appointing, must needs fall with thee, and with thy burden. Wherefore, consider of this seriously, and return thy answer to God, who can tell if truth shall be found in thy answers, better by far than any; for it is he that tries the reins and the heart, and therefore to him I refer thee. But,

Works of John Bunyan – The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness of the Loss Thereof; Who Has Christ as An Advocate 203.

 

(1.) Since, then, the children have had Christ as their Advocate; art thou a child? Art thou begotten of God by his Word? (James 1:18). Hast thou in thee the spirit of adoption? (Gal 4:1-6). Canst thou in faith say, Father, Father, to God? Then is Christ thy Advocate, thine Advocate, “now to appear in the presence of God for thee” (Heb 9:24). To appear there, and to plead there, in the face of the court of heaven, for thee; to plead there against thine adversary, whose accusations are dreadful, whose subtlety is great, whose malice is inconceivable, and whose rage is intolerable; to plead there before a just God, a righteous God, a sin-revenging God: before whose face thou wouldst die if thou was to show thyself, and at his bar to plead thine own cause. But,

(2.) There is a difference in children; some are bigger than some; there are children and little children. My little children, I write unto you.” Some of the little children can neither say Father nor so much as know that they are children.

This is true in nature, and so it is in grace; therefore, notwithstanding what was said under the first head, it does not follow that if I am a child, I must certainly know it and also be able to call God Father. Let the first, then, serve to poise and balance the confident ones, and let this be for the relief of those more feeble; for they that are children, whether they know it or not, have Jesus Christ for their Advocate, for Christ is assigned to be our Advocate by the Judge, by the King, by our God and Father, although we have not known it. True, at present, there can come from hence, to them that are thus concerned in the advocateship of Christ, but little comfort; yet it yields them great security; they have “an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” God knows this, the devil feels this, and the children shall have the comfort of it afterward. I say the time is coming when they shall know that even then when they knew it not, they had an Advocate with the Father, an Advocate who was neither loath nor afraid nor ashamed to plead for their defense against their proudest foe. And will not this, when they know it, yield them comfort? Doubtless, it will; yes, more, and of a better kind than that which flows from the knowledge that one is born into crowns and kingdoms.

Again, as he is an Advocate for the children, he is also, as before was hinted, for the strong and experienced; for no strength in this world is secured from the rage of hell, nor can any experience, while we are here, fortify us against his assaults. There is also an incidence in the best to sin, and the bigger man, the bigger fall; for the more hurt, the greater damage. Therefore, it is of absolute necessity that an advocate be provided for the strong as well as for the weak. “Any man”—he “that is most holy, most reformed, most refined, and most purified—may as soon be in the dirt as the weakest Christian, and, so far as I can see, Satan’s design is against them most. I am sure the greatest sins have been committed by the biggest saints. This wayfaring man came to David’s house, and when he stood up against Israel, he provoked David to number the people (II Sam 12:4, 7; I Chron 21:1). Therefore, they have as much need for an advocate as the youngest and most feeble of the flock. What a mind had he to try a fall with Peter! And how quickly did he break the neck of Judas?

The like, without doubt, he had done to Peter, had not Jesus, by stepping in, prevented As long as sin is in our flesh, there is danger. Indeed, he says of the young men that they are strong and that they have overcome the wicked one, but he does not say they have killed him. As long as the devil is alive, there is danger, and though a strong Christian may be too hard for and may overcome him in one thing, he may be too hard for, yes, and may overcome him two for one afterward. Thus he served David, and thus he served Peter, and thus he, in our day, has served many more. The strongest are weak, and the wisest are fools when suffering from being sifted as wheat in Satan’s sieve; yes, and they have often been so proved, to the wounding of their great hearts, and the dishonor of religion. To conclude this: God of his mercy hath sufficiently declared the truth of what I say, by preparing for the best, the strongest, and most sanctified, as well as for the least, weakest, and most feeble saint, as Advocate-“My little children, I write unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.”

Works of John Bunyan – The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness of the Loss Thereof; Who Has Christ as An Advocate 202.

 

Second, I come next to show you how far this office of an Advocate has been extended. I hinted at this before, so now shall be more brief. 1. By this office he offers no sacrifice; he only, as to matters of justice, pleads for the sacrifice offered. 2. By this office he obtains the conversion of none; he only thereby secured the converted from the damnation which their adversary, for sins after light and profession, endeavored to bring them to. 3. By this office, he not only prevents temporal punishment but also chiefly preserves the soul from hell. 4. By this office he brings in no justifying righteousness for us, he only thereby prevailed to have the disposal of that brought in by himself, as Priest, for the justifying of those who, by a new and fresh act, had made their justification doubtful by new falls into sin. And this is plain in the history of our Joshua, so often mentioned before (Zech 3). 5. As Priest, he hath obtained eternal redemption for us; and as Advocate, he by law maintained our right thereto against the devil and his angels.

Third, I come now to show you who they are who have Jesus Christ as their Advocate. And this I shall do first, more generally, and then be more particular and distinct about it.

1. More generally. They are all the truly gracious; those that are the children by adoption, and this test affirmed, My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” They are, then, the children, by adoption, who are the persons concerned in the advocacy of Jesus Christ. The priesthood of Christ extended itself to the whole body of the elect, but the advocateship of Christ was not so. This is further clarified by this apostle, and in this very text, if you consider what immediately follows: We have an Advocate,” says he, “and he is the propitiation for our sins.” He is our Advocate, and also our Priest. As an Advocate, ours only; but as a propitiation, not ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world; to be sure, for the elect throughout the world, and they that will extend it further, let them.

And I say again, had he not intended that there should have been a straighter limit put to the Advocateship of Christ than he would have us put to his priestly office, what needed he, when he speaks of the propitiation that relates to Christ as Priest, have added, And not for ours only”? As an Advocate, then, he engaged for us that our children; and as a Priest, too, he hath appeased God’s wrath for our sins; but as an Advocate his offices are confined to the children only, but as a Priest, he is not so. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours alone. Therefore, the sense of the apostle should, I think, be that this Christ, as a Priest, has offered a propitiatory sacrifice for all, but as an Advocate he pleaded only for the children. Children, we have an Advocate to ourselves, and he is also our Priest; but as he is a Priest, he is not ours only, but maketh, as such, amends for all that shall be saved. The elect, therefore, have the Lord Jesus for their Advocate then, and then only, when they are by calling put among the children, because, as Advocate, he is peculiarly the children’s: My little children, we have an Advocate.”

Objection. But he also said, “If any man sins, we have an Advocate”; any man that sins seems, by the text, notwithstanding what you say, “to have an Advocate with the Father.”

Answer. By any man, must not be meant any of the world, nor any of the elect, but any man in faith and grace; for he still limits this general term, “any man,” with this restriction, “we”—children, “if any man sins, we have an Advocate.” We, any man of us, And this is yet further made apparent since he says that it is to them that he writes, not only here but further in this chapter: I write unto YOU, little children; I write unto you, fathers; I write unto you, young men” (I John 2:12–13). These are the persons intended in the text, for under these three heads are comprehended all men; for they are either children, and so men in nature, or young men, and so men in strength; or else they are fathers, and so aged and of experience. Add to this, by “any man,” that the apostle intended not to enlarge himself beyond the persons that are in grace but to supply what was wanting by that term “little children,” for since the strongest saint may have heed of an Advocate, as well as the most feeble of the flock, why should the apostle leave it to be so understood as if the children, and the children only, had an interest in that office? Wherefore, after he had said, “My little children, I write unto you, that ye sin not,” he then added, with enlargement, “If any man sins, we have an Advocate with the Father.” Yet the little children may well be mentioned first since they most want the knowledge of it, are most feeble, and so, by sin, may be forced most frequently to act with faith in Christ as Advocate. Besides, they are most ready, through temptation, to question whether they have so good a right to Christ in all his offices as have better and more well-grown saints; and, therefore, they, in this the apostle’s salutation, are first set down in the catalog of names: My little children, I write unto you, that ye sin not. If any man sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” So, then, the children of God are those who have the Lord Jesus as an Advocate for them with the Father. The last and biggest, the oldest and youngest, the feeblest and the strongest—all the children have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

Works of John Bunyan – The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness of the Loss Thereof; Who Has Christ as An Advocate 201.

 

by Thomas Sadler, oil on canvas, 1684

THIRDLY, And I shall come now to the third head, to wit, to show you who they are who have Jesus Christ as their Advocate.

In my handling of this head, I shall first show that the office of an advocate differs from that of a priest and how. Second, I shall show you how far Christ extends his office of advocateship in matters concerning the people of God—and then, third, I shall come more directly to show who they are that have Christ as their Advocate.

First, this office of Christ, as an Advocate, differs from that of a Priest. That he is a Priest, a Priest forever, I heartily acknowledge; but that his priesthood and advocateship should be one and the self-same office, I cannot believe.

1. Because they differ in name. We may as well say a father, as such, is a son, or that father and son are the self-same relation, as say a priest and an advocate, as to office, are but one and the same thing. They differ in name as much as priest and sacrifice do: a priest is one, and a sacrifice is another; and though Christ is Priest and Sacrifice too, yet, as a Priest, he is not a Sacrifice, nor, as a Sacrifice, a Priest.

2. As they differ in name, so they differ in the nature of office. A priest is to slay a sacrifice; an advocate is to plead a cause; a priest is to offer his sacrifice, to the end that, by the merit thereof, he may appease; an advocate is to plead according to law; a priest is to make intercession by virtue of his sacrifice; an advocate is to plead law because amends are made.

3. As they differ in name and nature, they also differ in extent. The priesthood of Christ extends itself to the whole of God’s elect, whether called or in their sins, but Christ, as Advocate, pleaded only for the children.

4. As they differ in name, nature, and extent, so do the people with whom they have to deal. We read nowhere that Christ, as Priest, has anything to do with the devil as an antagonist, but as an Advocate, he has.

5. As they differ in these, they differ in the matters about which they are employed. Christ, as Priest, concerns himself with every wry thought and, also, with the least imperfection or infirmity that attends to our most holy things; but Christ, as Advocate, does not do so, as I have already shown.

6. So that Christ, as Priest, goes before, and Christ, as an Advocate, comes after; Christ, as Priest, continually intercedes; Christ, as Advocate, in case of great transgressions, pleads: Christ, as Priest, has the need to act always, but Christ, as Advocate, sometimes only. Christ, as Priest, acts in times of peace; but Christ, as Advocate, in times of broils, turmoils, and sharp contentions; wherefore, Christ, as Advocate, is, as I may call him, a reserve, and his time is then to arise, to stand up and plead, when He is clothed with some filthy sin that of late they have fallen into, as David, Joshua, or Peter. When some such thing is committed by them, as ministereth to the enemy, a show of ground to question the truth of their grace; or when it is a question and to be debated, whether it can stand with the laws of heaven, with the merits of Christ, and with the honour of God, that such a one should be saved. Now let an advocate come forth; now let him have time to plead, for this is a fitting occasion for the saints’ Advocate to stand up to plead for the salvation of his people. But,

Works of John Bunyan – The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness of the Loss Thereof; The Persons Interested In The Intercession Of Christ 200.

 

This, then, is the next plea of our good Advocate for us: O Satan, this is “a brand plucked out of the fire.” As who should say, Thou objected against my servant Joshua, saying that he is black like coal or that the fire of sin at times is still burning in him. And what then? The reason why he is not totally extinct, as tow; is not thy pity, but my Father’s mercy to him; I have plucked him out of the fire, yet not so out but that the smell thereof is yet upon him; and my Father and I, we consider his weakness, and pity him; for since he is as a brand pulled out, can it be expected by my Father or me that he should appear before us as clear and do our biddings as well as if he had never been there? This is “a brand plucked out of the fire” and must be considered and borne with as such. Thus, as Mephibosheth pleaded for his excuse, his lameness (II Sam 19:24–26), Christ pleaded the infirm and indigent condition of his people against Satan for their advantage.

Now, from all these things, it appears that we have indulgence at God’s hand and that our weaknesses, as our Christ manages the matter for us, are so far off from laying a block or bar in the way to the enjoyment of favor, that they also work for our good; yea and God’s foresight of them have so kindled his bowels and compassion to us, as to put him upon devising such things for our relief, which by no means could have been, had not sin been with us in the world, and had not the best of saints been “as a brand plucked out of the burning.”

I have seen men (and yet they are worse than God) take most care of, and, also, best provide for, those of their children that have been most infirm and helpless; and our Advocate “shall gather his lambs with his arms, and carry them in his bosom”; yea, and I know that there is such an art in showing and making mention of weaknesses as shall make the tears stand in a parent’s eyes, and as shall make him search to the bottom of his purse to find out what may do his weakling good. Christ, also, has that excellent art, as he is an Advocate with the Father for us; he can so make mention of us and of our infirmities, while he pleads before God, against the devil, for us, that he can make the bowels of the Almighty yearn towards us and to wrap us up in their compassion. You read much of the pity, compassion, and yearning of the bowels of the mighty God towards his people; all which, I think, is kindled and made burn towards us, by the pleading of our Advocate. I have seen fathers offended with their children; but when a brother had turned a skillful advocate, the anger has been appeased, and the means have been concealed. We read but little of this Advocate’s office of Jesus Christ, yet much of the fruit of it is extended to the churches; but as the cause of smiles, after offenses committed, is made manifest afterward, so at the day when God will open all things, we shall see how many times our Lord, as an Advocate, pleaded for us, and redeemed us by his so pleading, unto the enjoyments of smiles and embraces, who, for sin, but a while before, were under frowns and chastisements. And thus much for the making out how Christ doth manage his office of being an Advocate for us with the Father-“If any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.”

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Works of John Bunyan – The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness of the Loss Thereof; The Persons Interested In The Intercession Of Christ 199.

 

Wherefore Christ, by such pleas as these for his people, doth yet further show the malice of Satan (for all this burning comes through him), yea, and by it he moved the heart of God to pity us and yet to be gentle, long-suffering, and merciful to us; for pity and compassion are the fruits of the yearning of God’s bowels towards us, while he considered us as infirm and weak, and subject to slips, stumbles, and falls because of weakness.

And that Christ our Advocate, by thus pleading, do turn things to our advantage, consider, (1.) That God is careful, that through our weakness, our spirits do not fail before him when he chides (Isa 57:16–18). (2.) “He stayed his rough wind in the day of the east wind,” and debates about the measure of affliction, when, for sin, we should be chastened, lest we should sink thereunder (Isa 27:7-9). (3.) He will not strictly mark what is done amiss, because if he should, we cannot stand (Psa 130:3). (4.) When he threatens to strike, his bowels are troubled, and his repentances are kindled together (Hosea 11:8, 9). (5.) He will spin out his patience to the utmost length because he knows we are such bunglers at doing (Jer 9:24). (6.) He will accept the will for the deed because he knows that sin will make our best performances imperfect (II Cor 8:12). (7.) He will count our little ones a very great deal, for he knows we are so unable to do anything at all (Job 1:21). (8.) He will excuse the souls of his people and lay the fault upon their flesh, which has the greatest affinity with Satan, if, through weakness and infirmity, we do not do as we should (Matt 26:41; Rom 7). Now, as I said, all these things happen unto us, both infirmities and pity, because, for that, we were once in the fire, and for that, the weakness of sin abides upon us to this day. But none of this favor could come to us, nor could we, by any means, cause that our infirmities should work for us thus advantageously; but that Christ our Advocate stands as our friend and pleads for us as he doth.

But again, before I pass this over, I will, for the clearing of this, present you with a few more considerations, which are of another rank-to-wit, that Christ our Advocate, as such, makes mention of our weaknesses so, against Satan and before his Father, as to turn all to our advantage.

(1.) We are therefore to be saved by grace; because of sin, we are disabled from keeping the law (Deut 9:5; Isa 64:6). (2.) We have given unto us the Spirit of grace to help because we can do nothing good without it (Eph 2:5; Rom 8:26). (3.) God has put Christ’s righteousness upon us to cover our nakedness with because we have none of our own to do it withal (Phil 3:7, 8; Eze 16:8). (4.) God allowed us to ride in the bosom of Christ to the grave and from there in the bosom of angels to heaven because our own legs are not able to carry us there (Isa 40:11, 46:4; Psa 48:14; Luke 16:22). (5.) God has made his Son our Head, our Priest, our Advocate, our Saviour, and our Captain, that we may be delivered from all the infirmities and all the fiends that attend us and that plot to do us hurt (Eph 1:22; Col 1:18; Heb 7:21). (6.) God has put the fallen angels into chains (II Peter 2:4; Rev 20:1, 2), that they might not follow us too fast, and has enlarged us (Psa 4:1), directed our feet in the way of his steps, that we may haste us to the strong tower and city of refuge for succor and safety, and given good angels a charge to look to us (Heb 1:14; Psa 34:7). (7.) God has promised that we, at our counting days, shall be spared, “as a man spared his own son that served him” (Mal 3:17).

Tagged Works

Works of John Bunyan – The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness of the Loss Thereof; The Persons Interested In The Intercession Of Christ 198.

 

I will further suppose that which may be supposed and that which is suitable to our purpose. Suppose, therefore, that a Father has a child whom he loveth, but the child has not half that wit that some of the family had, and I am sure that we have less wit than angels; and suppose, also, that some bad-minded neighbor, by tampering with, tempting of, and by unwearied solicitations, should prevail with this child to steal something out of his father’s house or grounds, and give it unto him; and this he doth on purpose to set the Father against the child; and suppose, again, that it comes to the father’s knowledge that the child, through the allurements of such a one, has done so and so against his Father; will he, therefore, disinherit this child? Yea, suppose, again, that he who tempted this child to steal should be the first to accuse this child to its Father for so doing. Would the Father take notice of the accusation of such a one?-No, verily, we that are evil can do better than so; how then should we think that the God of heaven should do such a thing, since also we have a wise brother, and that will and can plead the very malice of our enemy that doth to us all these things against him for our advantage? I say this is the sum of this fifth plea of Christ, our Advocate, against Satan. O Satan, says he, thou art an enemy to my people; thou plead not out of love for righteousness, not to reform, but to destroy my beloved and my inheritance. The charge with which you charge my people is your own (Job 8:4-6). Not only as a matter of charge, but the things that you accuse them of are thine, thine in nature. Also, thou hast tempted, allured, flattered, and daily labored with them to do that for which now thou so willingly would have them destroyed. Yea, all this hast thou done of envy to my Father and to godliness; of hatred to me and my people; and that you might destroy others besides (I Chron 21:1). And now, what can this accuser say? Can he excuse himself? Can he contradict our Advocate? He cannot; he knows that he is a Satan, an enemy, and as an adversary has he sown his tares among the wheat, that it might be rooted up; but he shall not have his end; his malice has prevented him, and so has the care and grace of our Advocate. The tares, therefore, he shall have returned unto him again; but the wheat, for all this, shall be gathered into God’s barn (Matt 13:25–30).

Thus, therefore, our Advocate makes use, in his plea against Satan, of the rage and malice that are the occasion of the enemy’s charge, wherewith he accuses the children of God. Therefore, when you read these words, “O Satan,” say to yourself, thus Christ our Advocate accuses our adversary of malice and envy against God and goodness. At the same time, he accused us of the sins we commit, for which we are sorry, and Christ has paid a price of redemption: “And if any man sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” But,

6. Christ, when he pleads as an Advocate for his people, in the presence of God, against Satan, can plead those very weaknesses of his people, for which Satan would have them damned, for their relief and advantage. “Is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?” This is part of the plea of our Advocate against Satan for his servant Joshua, when he said, “The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan” (Zech 3:2). Now, to be a brand plucked out of the fire is to be a saint, impaired, weakened, defiled, and made imperfect by sin; for so also the apostle means when he says, “And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh” (Jude 23). By fire, in both these places, we are to understand sin; for that it burns and consumes as fire (Rom 1:27). Therefore, a man is said to burn when his lusts are strong upon him and to burn in lusts for others when his wicked heart runs wickedly after them (I Cor 7:9).

Also, when Abraham said, “I am but dust and ashes” (Gen 18:27), he meant he was but what sin had left; yes, he had something of the smutch and besmearing of sin yet upon him. Wherefore it was a custom with Israel, in days of old, when they set days apart for confession of sin and humiliation for the same, to sprinkle themselves with or to wallow in dust and ashes, as a token that they did confess they were but what sin had left, and that they also were defiled, weakened, and polluted by it (Esth 4:1,3; Jer 6:26; Job 30:19, 42:6).

Works of John Bunyan – The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness of the Loss Thereof; The Persons Interested In The Intercession Of Christ 197.

 

5. As Christ, as Advocate, plead for us, against Satan, his Father’s interest in us, and his own, and plead also what right he has to dispose of the kingdom of heaven; so he pleaded against this enemy, that malice and enmity that is in him, and upon which chiefly his charge against us is grounded, to the confusion of his face. This is evident from the title that our Advocate bestows upon him, while he pleads for us against him: “The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan, O enemy,” saith he, for Satan is an enemy, and this name given him signifies so much. And lawyers, in their pleas, can make a great matter of such a circumstance as this, saying, My Lord, we can prove that what is now pleaded against the prisoner at the bar is of mere malice and hatred, that has also a long time lain burning and raging in his enemy’s breast against him. I say this will greatly weaken an enemy’s plea and accusation. But, says Jesus Christ, “Father, here is a plea brought in against my Joshua that clothes him with filthy garments, but it is brought in against him by an enemy, by an enemy in the superlative or highest degree. 

One that hates goodness worse than he, and that loveth wickedness more than the man against whom at this time he has brought such a heinous charge.” Then, leaving with the Father the value of his blood for the accused, he turned him to the accuser and pleaded against him as an enemy: “O Satan, thou that accuses my spouse, my love, my members, art Satan, an enemy.” But it will be argued that the things charged are true. Grant it, yet what law takes notice of the plea of one who professedly acts as an enemy? because it is not done out of love for truth, justice, and righteousness, nor intended for the honor of the king, nor for the good of the prosecuted, but to gratify malice and rage, and merely to kill and destroy. There is, therefore, a great deal of force and strength in an Advocate’s pleading of such a circumstance against an accuser, especially when the crimes now charged are those and only those for which the law, in the due execution of it, has been satisfied before; therefore, a lawyer now has double and treble ground or matter to plead for his client against his enemy. And this advantage against him comes from Jesus Christ.

Besides, it is well known that Satan, as to us, is the original cause of those very crimes for which he accuses us at the bar of God’s tribunal. Not to say anything about how he comes to us, solicits us, tempts us, flatters us, and always, in a manner, lies at us to do those wicked things for which he so hotly pursues us to the bar of the judgment of God. For though it is not meet for us thus to plead—to wit, laying that fault upon Satan, but rather upon ourselves—yet our advocate will do it and make work of it before God. “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he might sift you as wheat; but I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fails not” (Luke 22:31–32). He maketh here mention of Satan’s desires, by way of advantage against him, and, doubtless, so he did in his prayer with God for Peter’s preservation. And what he did here, while on earth, as a Saviour in general, that he doth now in heaven as a Priest and an Advocate in particular.