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).

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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 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.

Works of John Bunyan – The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness of the Loss Thereof; The Persons Interested In The Intercession Of Christ 196

 

(b.) As they are called his spouse, so they are called his flesh and members of his body. Now, said Paul to the church, “Ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular” (I Cor 12:27; Eph 5:30). This relationship also makes a man plead hard. If a man were to plead for a limb or a member of his own, how would he plead? What arguments would he use? And what sympathy and feelings would his arguments flow from? I cannot lose a hand, I cannot lose a foot, I cannot lose a finger; why, saints are Christ’s members; his members are of himself. With what strength of argument would a man plead the necessaries of his members to him and the unnaturalness of his adversary in seeking the destruction of his members and the deformity of his body? Yea, a man would shuck and cringe and weep and entreat and make demurs, halts, and delays for a thousand years, if possible, before he would lose his members or any one of them.

But, I say, how would he plead and advocate it for his members if judge, law, reason, and equity were all on his side, and if, by the adversary, there could be nothing urged but that against which the Advocate had long before made provision for the effectual overthrow thereof? And all this is true as to the case that lies before us. Thus we see what strength there is in this second argument that our Advocate brings for us against the enemy. They are his flesh and bones, his members; he cannot spare them; he cannot spare this, nor that, nor any, because they are his members. As such, they are lovely to him; as such, they are useful to him; as such, they are an ornament to him; yea, though in themselves they are feeble and, through infirmity, weak, much disabled from doing as they should. Thus, “If any man sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” But,

4. As Christ, as Advocate, pleads for us against Satan, his Father’s interest in us and his own, so he pleaded against him that right and property that he hath in heaven, to give it to whom he will. He has a right to heaven as Priest and King; it is also his by inheritance; and since he will be so good a benefactor as to bestow this house on somebody, but not for their deserts, but not for their goodness, and since, again, he has to that end spilled his blood for, and taken a generation into covenant relation to him, that it might be bestowed on them; it shall be bestowed on them; and he will plead this if there be a need if his people sin, and if their accuser seeks, by their sin, their ruin and destruction: “Father,” saith he, “I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me” (John 17:24). Christ’s will is the will of heaven, the will of God. Shall not Christ, then, prevail?

“I will,” saith Christ; “I will,” saith Satan; but whose will shall stand? Christ in the text indeed speaks more like an arbitrator than an Advocate; more like a judge than one pleading at a bar. I will have it so; I judge that it ought to be and must be. But there is also something of plea in the words both before his Father and against our enemy, and therefore he speaks like one that can plead and determine also; yea, like one that has power so to do. But shall the will of heaven stoop to the will of hell? Or the will of Christ to the will of Satan? Or the will of righteousness to the will of sin? Shall Satan, who is God’s enemy, and whose charge wherewith he charged us for sin, and which is grounded, not upon love to righteousness, but upon malice against God’s designs of mercy, against the blood of Christ, and the salvation of his people-I say, shall this enemy and this charge prevail with God against the well-grounded plea of Christ, and against the salvation of God’s elect, and so keep us out of heaven? No, no; Christ will have it otherwise; he is the great donator, and his eye is good. True, Satan was turned out of heaven for that he sinned there, and we must be taken into heaven, though we have sinned here; this is the will of Christ, and, as Advocate, he pleads it against the face and accusation of our adversary. Thus, “If any man sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” But,

Works of John Bunyan – The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness of the Loss Thereof; The Persons Interested In The Intercession Of Christ 195

 

1. They are mine; therefore, in reason at my disposal, not at the disposal of an adversary; for while a thing can properly be called mine, no man has in addition to that to do but myself; nor doth a man nor Christ close his right to what he has by the weakness of that thing, which is his proper right. He, therefore, as an Advocate, pleaded interest, his own interest, in his people, and right must, with the Judge of all the earth, take place: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” (Gen 18:25).

2. They cost him dear, and that which is dearly bought is not easily parted with (I Cor. 6:20). They were bought with “his blood” (Eph 1:7; I Peter 1:18–19). They were given him for his blood and therefore are “dear children” (Eph 5:1), for they are his by the highest price, and at this price he, as Advocate, pleaded against the enemy of our salvation; yea, I will add, they are his because he gave his all for them (II Cor 8:9). When a man shall give his all for this or that, then that which he so hath purchased becomes his all. Now Christ has given his all for us; he made himself poor for us, wherefore we are become his all, his fullness; and so the church is called (Eph 1:23). Further, Christ likes well enough his purchase, though it has cost him his all. The lines,” says he, “are fallen to me in pleasant places; I have a goodly heritage” (Psa 16:6). Now, put all these things together, and there is a strong plea in them. Such an interest will not be easily parted with. But this is not all; for

3. As they cost him dear, he has made them near to himself by way of a relationship. Now that which did not only cost dear but that by way of relation is made so, that a man will plead heartily for. Said David to Abner, “Thou shalt not see my face, except thou first bring Michal, Saul’s daughter, when thou comes to see my face” (II Sam 3:13,14). Saul’s daughter cost me dear; I bought her with the jeopardy of my life. Saul’s daughter is near me; she is my beloved wife. He pleaded hard for her because she was dear and near him. Now, I say, the same is true in Christ; his people cost him dear, and he hath made them near unto him; therefore, to plead interest in them is to hold by a strong argument. (a.) They are his spouse, and he has made them so; they are his love, dove, and darling, and he accounts them so. Now, should a wretch attempt, in open court, to take a man’s wife away from him, how would this cause the man to plead? Yea, and what judge is just and knows that the man has this interest in the woman pleaded for, would yield to, or give a verdict for the wretch against the man whose wife the woman is? Thus Christ, in pleading interest—in pleading “You gave them to me”—pleads with a strong argument, an argument that the enemy cannot invalidate. True, were Christ to plead this before Saul (I Sam 25:44) or before Samson’s wife’s father, the Philistine (Judge 14:20), perhaps such treacherous judges would give it against all rights. But, I have told you, the court in which Christ pleads is the highest and the justest, and that from which there can be no appeal; therefore, Christ’s cause, and so the cause of the children of God, must be tried before their Father, from whose face, to be sure, just judgment shall proceed. But:

Works of John Bunyan – The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness of the Loss Thereof; The Persons Interested In The Intercession Of Christ, 194

 

Third. As Christ, as Advocate, pleads against Satan the interest that his Father hath in his chosen, so also he pleads against him by no less authority—his own interest in them. “Holy Father,” said he, “keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me” (John 17:11). Keep them while in the world from the evil, the soul-damning evil of it. These words are directed to the Father, but they are leveled against the accusations of the enemy and were spoken here to show what Christ will do for himself, against our foe, when he is above. How I say, he will urge before his Father his own interest in us against Satan and against all his accusations when he brings them to the bar of God’s tribunal, with the design to work our utter ruin. And is there not a great deal in it? As if Christ should say, Father, my people have an adversary who will accuse them for their faults before thee; but I will be their Advocate, and as I have bought them of thee, I will plead my right against him (John 10:28). Our English proverb is, Interest will not lie; interest will make a man do that which otherwise he would not. How many thousands are there for whom Christ does not so much as once open his mouth but leaves them to the accusations of Satan and to Ahab’s judgment, or worse, because there is none to plead their cause? And why does he not concern himself with them? but because he is not interested in them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me, for they are thine; and all mine are thine, and I am glorified in them” (John 17:9, 10).

Suppose there are so many cattle in such a pound, and one goes by whose they are not; does he concern himself? No; he beholds them and goes his way. But suppose that at his return he should find his own cattle in that pound, would he now carry it toward them as he did unto the other? No, no; he has an interest here; they are his that are in the pound; now he is concerned, now he must know who put them there and for what cause too they are served as they are; and if he finds them rightfully there, he will fetch them by ransom; but if wrongfully, he will replevy them and stand a trial at law with him that has thus illegally pounded his cattle. And thus it is between Jesus Christ and his. He is interested in them; the cattle are his own, “his own sheep” (John 10:3,4), but pounded by some others, by the law, or by the devil. If pounded by the law, he delivered them by ransom; if pounded by the devil, he will replevy them, stand a trial at law for them, and will be, against their accuser, their Advocate himself. Nor can Satan withstand his plea, though he should against them join argument with the law; forasmuch, as has been proven before, he can and will, by what he has to produce and plead of his own, save him from all trespasses, charges, and accusations. Besides, all men know that a man’s proper goods are not therefore forfeited because he commits many and too great transgressions. And if any man sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” Now, the strength of this plea thus grounded upon Christ’s interest in his people is great, and had many weighty reasons on its side; such as:

Works of John Bunyan – The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness of the Loss Thereof; The Persons Interested In The Intercession Of Christ, 193.

 

by Thomas Sadler, oil on canvas, 1684

(1.) Election is eternal as God himself, and so without variableness or shadow of change, and hence it is called "an eternal purpose" and a "purpose of God" that must stand (Eph 3:11; Rom 9:11). (2.) Election is absolute, not conditional, and, therefore, cannot be overthrown by the sin of the man that is wrapped up therein. No works foreseen to be in us were the cause of God's choosing us; no sin in us shall frustrate or make the election void. Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifies" (Rom 8:33; 9:11). (3.) By the act of election the children are involved, wrapped up, and covered in Christ; he hath chosen us in him; not in ourselves, not in our virtues, no, not for or because of anything, but of his own will (Eph 1:4-11). (4.) Election included in it a permanent resolution of God to glorify his mercy on the vessels of mercy, thus foreordained unto glory (Rom 9:15,18,23). (5.) By electing love, it is concluded that all things shall work together for the good of them whose call to God is the fruit of this purpose, this eternal purpose of God (Rom 8:28-30). (6.) The eternal inheritance is by a covenant of free and unchangeable grace made over to those thus chosen; and to secure them from the fruits of sin, and from the malice of Satan, it is sealed by this our Advocate's blood, as he is Mediator of this covenant, who also is become surety to God for them; to wit, to see them forthcoming at the great day, and to set them then safe and sound before his Father's face after the judgment is over (Rom 9:23; Heb 7:22; 9:15,17-24; 13:20; John 10:28,29). (7.) By this choice, purpose, and decree, the elect, the concerned therein, have allotted them by God, and laid up for them, in Christ, the sufficiency of grace to bring them through all difficulties to glory; yea, and they, every one of them, after the first act of faith-the which also they shall certainly attain, because wrapped up in the promise for them-are to receive the earnest and first-fruits thereof into their souls (II Tim 1:9; Acts 14:22; Eph 1:4,5,13,14).

Now, put all these things together, and then feel if there be no weight in this plea of Christ against the devil. He pleads God's choice and interest in his saints against his interest that is secured by the wisdom of heaven, by the grace of heaven, by the power, will, and mercy of God, in Christ-an interest in which all the three Persons in the Godhead have engaged themselves, by mutual agreement and operation, to make good when Satan has done his all. I know some object against this doctrine as false; but such, perhaps, are ignorant of some things else. However, they object against the wisdom of God, whose truth it is, and against Christ our Advocate, whose argument, as he is such, it is; yea, they labor, what in them lieth, to wrest that weapon out of his hand, with which he so cudgeled the enemy when, as Advocate, he pleaded so effectually against him for the rescuing of us from the danger of judgment, saying, "The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan, even the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem, rebuke thee."

Works of John Bunyan – The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness of the Loss Thereof; The Persons Interested In The Intercession Of Christ, 192.

 

2. God’s interest in these people, and pray that God will remember that: “The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan; the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem, rebuke thee.” True, the church, the saints, are despicable in the world; wherefore men do think to tread them down; the saints are, also, weak in grace, but have strong corruptions, and, therefore, Satan, the god of this world, doth think to tread them down; but the saints have a God, the living, the eternal God, and, therefore, they shall not be trodden down; yea, they “shall be held up, for God can make them stand” (Rom 14:4).

It was Haman’s mishap to be engaged against the queen and the kindred of the queen; it was that that made him he could not prosper; that brought him to contempt and the gallows. Had he sought to ruin other people, probably he might have brought his design to a desired conclusion, but his compassing the death of the queen spoiled all. Satan, also, when he fighteth against the church, must be sure to come to the worst, for God has a concern in that; therefore, it is said, “The gates of hell shall not prevail against it,” but this hindereth not, but that he is permitted to make almost what spoils his will of those that do not belong to God. Oh, how many doth he accuse, and soon get out from God, against them, a license to destroy them! as he served Ahab, and many more. But I say this is a great block in his way when he meddles with the children; God has an interest in them. Has God cast away his people? God forbid!” (Rom 11:1,2). The text intimates that they, for sin, had deserved it and that Satan would fain have had it been so, but God’s interest in them preserved them: God hath not cast away his people, which he foreknew.” Therefore, when Satan accuses them before God, Christ, as he pleaded for his own worth and merit, pleaded also against him for the interest that God has in them.

And though this, to some, may seem an indifferent plea, for what engagement lieth, may they say, upon God to be so much concerned with them, for they sin against him and often provoke him most bitterly? Besides, in their best state, they are altogether vanity and a very thing of naught: What is man (sorry, man), that thou art mindful of him,” or that thou shouldest be so?

I answer, Though there lieth no engagement upon God for any worthiness in man, yet there lieth a great deal upon God for the worthiness in himself. God has engaged himself with his having chosen them to be a people to himself, and by this means they are so secured from all that all can do against them that the apostle is bold, upon this very account, to challenge all despite doing its worst against them, saying, “Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect?” (Rom 8:33). Who? saith Satan; why, that will I. Ay, saith he, but who can do it and prevail? “It is God that justifies; who is he that condemns?” (ver. 34). In these words, the apostle clearly declares that charges against the elect, though they may be brought against them, must prove ineffectual as to their condemnation because their Lord God still will justify it, for that Christ has died for them. Besides, a little to enlarge, the elect are bound to God by a sevenfold cord, and a threefold one is not quickly broken.

Works of John Bunyan – The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness of the Loss Thereof; The Persons Interested In The Intercession Of Christ 191

 

by Thomas Sadler, oil on canvas, 1684

1. He pleads against him the well-pleasedness that his Father has in his merits, saying, This shall please the Lord, or this doth or will please the Lord, better than anything that can be propounded (Psa 69:31). Now that this plea is true, as it is established upon the liking of God Almighty, whatever Satan can say to obtain our everlasting destruction is without ground and so unreasonable. "I am well pleased," saith God (Matt 3:17), and again, "The Lord is well pleased for his (Christ's) righteousness' sake" (Isa 42:21). All those who take actions against others pretend that wrong is done, either against themselves or against the king. Now Satan will never enter an action against us in the court above, for that wrong by us has been done to himself; he must pretend, then, that he sues us, for that wrong has, by us, been done to our king. But, behold, "We have an Advocate with the Father," and he has made compensation for our offenses. He gave himself for our offenses. But still, Satan maintains his suit, and our God, saith Christ, is well pleased with us for this compensation's sake, yet he will not leave off his clamor. Come, then, says the Lord Jesus, the contention is not now against my people but against myself and about the sufficiency of the amends that I have made for the transgressions of my people; but he is near that justifies me, that approves and accepts of my doings; therefore, shall I not be confounded? Who is my adversary?

 Let him come near me! Behold, "the Lord God will help me" (Isa 50:7-9). Who is he who condemns me? Lo, they all shall, were there ten thousand times as many more of them, wax old as a garment; the moth shall eat them up. Wherefore, if the Father saith Amen to all this, as I have shown already that he hath and doth, the which also further appeareth, because the Lord God has called him the Saviour, the Deliverer, and the Amen; what follows, but that a rebuke should proceed from the throne against him? And this, indeed, our Advocate calls for from the hand of his Father, saying, O enemy, "the Lord rebuke thee"; yea, he doubles this request to the judge, to intimate his earnestness for such a conclusion, or to show that the enemy shall surely have it, both from our Advocate and from him before whom Satan has so grievously accused us (Zech 3).

For what can be expected to follow from such an issue in law as this is, but sound and severe snibs from the judge upon him that hath thus troubled his neighbor, and that hath, in the face of the country, cast contempt upon the highest act of mercy, justice, and righteousness, that ever the heavens beheld? And all this is true regarding the case in hand, wherefore, "The Lord rebuke thee," is that which, in conclusion, Satan must have for the reward of his works of malice against the children and for his contemplation of the works of the Son of God. Now, our Advocate having thus established, by the law of heaven, his plea with God for us against our accuser, there is a way made for him to proceed upon a foundation that cannot be shaken; therefore, he proceeded in his plea and further urges against this accuser of the brethren.

Works of John Bunyan – The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness of the Loss Thereof; The Persons Interested In The Intercession Of Christ 190.

 

by Thomas Sadler, oil on canvas, 1684

What is heaven without God? What is ease without the peace and enjoyment of God? What is deliverance from hell without the enjoyment of God? Propounding, therefore, these and only these, to thyself for thy happiness in thy coming to Jesus Christ is a proposal, not a hair's breadth higher than what a man without grace can propound. What or who is he that would not go to heaven? What or who is he that would not also have eased from the guilt of sin? And where is the man who chooses to go to hell? But there are many there who cannot abide in God; no, they like not to go to heaven because God is there. If the devil had heaven to bestow upon men, a vicious and beastly heaven, if it were lawful thus to speak, I would pawn my soul upon it, was it a thousand times better than it is, that, upon a bare invitation, the foul fiend would have twenty to God's one. They, I say, cannot abide God; nay, for all, the devil has nothing but hell for them; yet how thick men go to him, but how thinly to God Almighty. The nature of God lies in the lusts of men. This spoils all a holy God, a glorious holy God, an infinitely holy God. But to the soul that is awakened, and that is made to see things as they are; to him, God is what he is in himself, the blessed, the highest, the only eternal good, and he without the enjoyment of whom all things would sound but emptily in the ears of that soul. Now, then, I advise thee that hast a mind to come to God by Christ that thou seek the knowledge of God—' If thou seekest wisdom as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures, then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God.' (Prov 2:4,5) And to encourage you yet further, he is so desirous of communion with men that he pardons sins for that. Hence, he is called not only loving but also loving. 'God is love, and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.' (1 John 4:16)

Methinks, when I consider what glory there is at times upon the creatures and that all their glory is the workmanship of God, O Lord, say I, what is God himself? He may well be called the God of glory, as well as the glorious Lord; for as all glory is from him, so in him is an inconceivable well-spring of glory, of glory to be communicated to them that come by Christ to him. Therefore, let the glory, love, bliss, and eternal happiness in God allure you to come to him by Christ.

8. As thou shouldst, nay, must, have a good knowledge of all these, so thou must have it of judgment to come. They that come to God by Christ are said to 'flee from the wrath to come'; to 'flee for refuge, to lay hold on the hope set before them.' (Matt 3:7, Heb 6:18)

Works of John Bunyan – The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness of the Loss Thereof; The Persons Interested In The Intercession Of Christ 189.

 

by Thomas Sadler, oil on canvas, 1684

But thou must take heed of all these, for he justifies us by none of these means, and thou dost need to be justified. I say he justifies us, not either by giving us laws or by becoming our example, or by our following of him in any sense, but by his blood shed for us. His blood is not laws, nor ordinances, nor commandments, but a price, a redeeming price. (Rom 5:7-9, Rev 1:5) He justifies us by bestowing upon us, not by expecting from us; he justifies us by his grace, not by our works. (Eph 1:7) In a word, thou must be well grounded in the knowledge of what Christ is and how men are justified by him, or thou wilt not come unto God by him.

As thou must know him and how men are justified by him, so thou must know the readiness that is in him to receive and to do for those what they need that come unto God by him. Suppose his merits were never so efficacious, yet if it could be proved that there is a loath in him that these merits should be bestowed upon the coming ones, there would be but a few adventures to wait upon him. But now, as he is full, he is free. Nothing pleases him better than to give what he has away and to bestow it upon the poor and needy. And it will be convenient that thou who art a coming soul shouldst know this for thy comfort to encourage thee to come to God by him. Take two or three sayings of his to confirm what is now said. 'Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.' (Matt 11:28) 'All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.' (John 6:37) 'I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.' (Mark 2:17) 'This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.' (1 Tim 1:15)

7. As a man that would come to God by Christ must, antecedent to his so coming, know himself, what he is; the world, how empty it is; the law, how severe it is; death, and what it is; and Christ, and what he is; so also he must know God. 'He that cometh to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.' (Heb 11:6) God must be known, else how can the sinner propound him as his end, his ultimate end? For so doth everyone that indeed doth come to Christ aright; he comes to Christ because he is the way; he comes to God because he is the end. But, I say, if he knows him not, how can he propound him as the end? The end is that for the sake of which I propound to myself anything, and for the sake of which I use any means. Now, then, I would be saved; but why? Even because I would enjoy God. I use the means to be saved; and why? Because I would enjoy God. I am sensible that sin has made me come short of the glory of God, and that Christ Jesus is the only he that can put me into a condition of obtaining the glory of God; therefore, I come to God by him. (Rom 3:23, 5:1,2)

But, I say again, who will propound God for his end that knows him not, that knows him not aright? yea, that knows him not, to be worth being propounded as my end in coming to Jesus Christ; and he that thus knows him must know him to be above all, best of all, and him in whom the soul shall find that content, that bliss, that glory and happiness that can by no means be found elsewhere. And, I say, if this be not found in God, the soul will never propound him to itself as the only, highest, and ultimate end in its coming to Jesus Christ. But it will propound something else, even what it shall imagine to be the best good; perhaps heaven, perhaps ease from guilt, perhaps to be kept out of hell, or the like. I do not say but a man may propound all these to himself, in his coming to Jesus Christ; but if he proclaims these as his ultimate end, as the chiefest good that he seeks; if the presence and enjoyment of God, of God's glorious majesty, be not his chief design, he is not concerned in the salvation that is propounded in our text—'He is able,' and so will 'save to the uttermost them that come unto God by him.'

Works of John Bunyan – The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness of the Loss Thereof; The Persons Interested In The Intercession Of Christ 188.

 

Now if death should surprise and seize thee before thou art fit to die, all is lost; for there is no repentance in the grave, or rather, as the wise man has it, ‘Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goes.’ (Eccl 9:10)

Death is God’s sergeant, God’s bailiff, and he arrests in God’s name when he comes, but seldom gives warning before he clappeth us on the shoulder; and when he arrests us, though he may stay a little while and give us leave to pant, tumble, and toss ourselves for a while upon a bed of languishing, yet, at last, he will prick our bladder and let out our life, and then our soul will be poured upon the ground, yea, into hell, if we are not ready and prepared for the life everlasting. He that does not watch for and is not afraid lest death should prevent him, will not make haste to God by Christ. What Job said of temporal afflictions: such a one will death be if thou art not aware—’ When I looked for good, then evil came—The days of affliction prevented me.’ (Job 30:26,27) If thou lookest, or beginnest to look for good, and the day of death shall cut thee off before thou hast found that good thou lookest for, all is lost, soul, and life, and heaven, and all. Therefore, it is convenient that thou conclude the grave is thy house and that thou make thy bed once a day in the grave; also, that thou say unto corruption, ‘Thou art my father; to the worm, thou art my mother and my sister.’ (Job 17:13,14) I say, be acquainted with the grave and death. The fool puts the evil day far away, but the wise man brings it near. Better be ready to die seven years before death comes than want one day, one hour, one moment, one tear, and one sorrowful sigh at the remembrance of the ill-spent life that I have lived. This, then, is that which I admonish thee of; namely, that thou know death, what it is, and what it doth when it comes. Also, thou consider well the danger that death leaves that man in, to whom he comes before he is ready and prepared to be laid by it in the grave.

6. Thou must also be made by thy awakenings to see what Christ is. This is of absolute necessity; for how can or shall a man be willing to come to Christ who knows not what he is or what God has appointed him to do? He is the Saviour, every man will say so; but to sense, smell, and taste what saving is, and so to understand the nature of the office and work of a Saviour, is a rare thing, kept close from most, known but by some. Jesus of Nazareth is the Savior, or reconciler, of men to God in the body of his flesh through death. (Col 1:19-21) This is he whose business in coming from heaven to earth was to save his people from their sins. Now, as was said, to know how he doth this is that which is needful to be inquired into; for some say he doth it one way, some say he doth it another; and it must be remembered that we are now speaking of the salvation of that man who, from new or first awakenings, is coming to God by Christ for life. (1.) Some say he does it by giving us precepts and laws to keep, that we might be justified thereby. (2.) Some say that he does it by setting himself a pattern for us to follow. (3.) Some again hold that he doth it by our following the light within.

Works of John Bunyan – The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness of the Loss Thereof; The Persons Interested In The Intercession Of Christ 187.

 

by Thomas Sadler, oil on canvas, 1684

Christ, therefore, often insinuated the truth of hell in his invitations to the sinners of this world to come to him, as where he tells them they shall be saved if they do, they shall be damned if they do not. As if he had said, there is a hell, a terrible hell, and they that come to me, I will save them from it; but they that come not, the law will damn them in it. Therefore, that thou mayest indeed come to God by Christ for mercy, believe there is a hell, a woeful, terrible place. Hell is God's creature; 'he hath made it deep and large'! The punishments are the lashes of his wrath, which will issue from his mouth like a stream of burning brimstone, ever kindling itself upon the soul. (Isa 30:33) Thou must know this by the Word, and fly from it, or thou shalt know it by thy sins, and lie and cry in it.

I might enlarge, but if I did, I should be swallowed up; for we are while here no more able to set forth the torments of hell than we are whole here to set forth the joys of heaven; only this may, and ought to be said, that God is able, as to save, so to cast into hell. (Luke 12:5) And as he can make heaven sweet, good, pleasurable, and glorious beyond thought; so he can make the torments of hell so exquisite, so hot, so sharp, so intolerable, that no tongue can utter it, no, not the damned in hell themselves. (Isa 64:4) 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 withal. What is the reason that sinners can play so delightfully with sin? It is for that they forget there is a hell for them to descend into for their so doing when they go out of this world. For here usually, he gives our stop to a sinful course; we perceive that hell hath opened her mouth before us. Lest thou shouldst forget, I beseech thee, another time, to retain the knowledge of hell in thine understanding and apply the burning-hot thoughts thereof to thy conscience; this is one way to make thee gather up thy heels and mend thy pace in thy coming to Jesus Christ and to God the Father by him.13

5. It is also necessary that he who cometh to God by the Lord Jesus should know what death is and the uncertainty of its approach upon us. Death is, as I may call it, the feller, the cutter down. Death is that which puts a stop to further living here and that which lays man where judgment finds him. If he is in the faith in Jesus, it lays him down there to sleep till the Lord comes; if he is not in the faith, it lays him down in his sins till the Lord comes. (Heb 11:13, 1 Thess 4:14, Job 20:11) Again, if thou hast some beginnings that look like good and death should overtake thee before those beginnings are ripe, thy fruit will wither, and thou wilt fall short of being gathered into God's barn. Some men are 'cut off as the tops of the ears of corn,' and some are even nipped by death in the very bud of their spring; but the safety is when a man is ripe and shall be gathered to his grave, as a shock of corn to the barn in its season. (Job 24:20–24, 5:26)