Works of John Bunyan – The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness 0f the Loss Thereof; How Christ Manages The Office Of An Advocate.153

 

THE USE AND APPLICATION

Use Sixth. Doth Jesus Christ stand up to plead for us, and that of his mere grace and love? Then this should teach Christians to be watchful and wary of how they sin against God. This inference seems to run retrograde, but whoever duly considers it will find it fairly far-fetched from the premises. Christianity teaches ingenuity and the aptness to be sensible of kindnesses, and it does instruct us to a loathness to be overheard upon him from whom we have all at free cost. "Shall we sin that grace may abound? God forbid. Shall we do evil so that good may come? God forbid. Shall we sin because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid" (Rom 6:1, 2, 15).

It is the most disingenuous thing in the world not to care how chargeable we are to that friend who bestows all upon us gratis. When Mephibosheth had an opportunity to be yet more chargeable to David, he would not, because he had his life and his all from the mere grace of the king (II Sam 119:24–28) Also, David thought it was too much for all of his household to go to Absalom's feast because it was free. Why, Christ is our Advocate of free cost, we pay him neither fee nor income for what he doth; nor doth he desire aught of us, but to accept of his free doing for us thankfully; wherefore let us put him upon this work as little as may be, and by so doing we shall show ourselves Christians of the right make and stamp. We count him but a fellow of a very gross spirit that will therefore be lavishing what is his friend's because it is prepared of mere kindness for him; Esau himself was loath to do this; and shall Christians be disingenuous?

I dare say, if Christians were sober, watchful, and of a more self-denying temper, they need not put the Lord Jesus to that to which for the want of these things they do so often put him. I know he is not unwilling to serve us, but I also know that the love of Christ should constrain us to live not to ourselves but to him who loved us, died for us, and rose again (II Cor 5:14, 15). We shall do that which is naught too much, even then when we watch and take care of what we can to prevent it. Our flesh, when we do our utmost diligence to resist, will defile both us and our best performances. We need not lay the reins on its neck and say, What are we? the more sin the more grace, and the more we shall see the kindness of Christ and what virtue there is in his Advocate's office to save us. And should there be any such here, I would present them with a scripture or two; the first is this: "Do ye thus requite the Lord, O foolish people and unwise?" (Deut 32:6). And if this gentle check will not do, then read the other. Shall we say, Let us do evil that good may come? Their damnation is just (Rom 3:8). Besides, as nothing so swayed us as love, there is nothing so well pleasing to God as it. Let a man love, though he has the opportunity to do nothing, it is accepted by the God of heaven. But where there is no love, let a man do what he will, it is not at all regarded (I Cor 13:1-3). Now to be careless and negligent, and that from a supposed understanding of the grace of Christ in the exercise of his advocateship for us in heaven, is as clear sign as can be, that in thy heart there is no love to Christ, and that consequently thou art just a nothing, instead of being a Christian. Talk, then, what thou wilt, and profess never so largely, Christ is no Advocate of thine, nor shalt thou, thou so continuing, be ever the better for any of those pleas that Christ, at God's bar, puts in against the devil, for his people.

Christians, Christ Jesus is not unwilling to lay himself out for you in heaven, nor to be an Advocate for you in the presence of his Father; but yet he is unwilling that you should render him evil for good; I say that you should do so by your remissness and carelessness for want of such thinking of things as may affect your hearts therewith. It would be more comely in you, would please him better, would agree with your profession, and also prove you gracious, to be found in the power and nature of these conclusions. "How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?" (Rom 6:2)."If ye have risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sited on the right hand of God; for ye are dead, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth, fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry; for which things' sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience" (Col 3:1–6).

I say it would be more common for Christians to say, We will not sin because God will pardon; we will not commit iniquity because Christ will advocate for us. "I write unto you that ye sin not; though if any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father. "Why, the brute would conclude, I will not do so, because my master will beat me; I will do thus, for then my master will love me. And Christians should be above such men, brutish men.

And for a conclusion as to this, let me present you with three considerations: (1.) Know that it is the nature of grace to draw holy arguments to move to goodness of life from the love and goodness of God, but not thence to be remiss (II Cor 5:14). (2.) Know therefore that they have no grace that find not these effects of the discoveries of the love and goodness of God. (3.) Know also that among all the swarms of professors that from age to age make mention of the name of Christ, they only must dwell with him in heaven that do part from iniquity, and are zealous of good works (II Tim 2:19). He gave himself for these (Titus 2:11-14). Not that they were so antecedent to this gift. But those that he has redeemed to himself are thus sanctified by his faith (Acts 26:18).

Works of John Bunyan – The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness 0f the Loss Thereof; How Christ Manages The Office Of An Advocate.152

 

THE USE AND APPLICATION

Objection. But I cannot pray, says one; therefore, how should I persevere? When I go to prayer, instead of praying, my mouth is stopped. What would you have me do?

Answer. Well, soul, though Satan may baffle thee, he cannot so serve thine Advocate; if thou must not speak for thyself, Christ thine Advocate can speak for thee. Lemuel was to open his mouth for the dumb-to-wit, for the sons of destruction, and to plead the cause of the poor and needy (Prov 31:8, 9). If we knew the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, as the Word reveals it, we would believe, we would hope, and we would, notwithstanding all discouragements, wait for the salvation of the Lord. But many things hinder us, so faith, prayer, and perseverance are difficult things for us. But if any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, and God "shall fight for you, and you shall hold your peace." was once a good word to me when I could not pray.

5. As we should improve this doctrine for the improvement and encouragement of these graces, so we should improve it to the driving of difficulties down before us, to the getting of ground upon the enemy—"Resist the devil," drive him back; this is it for which thy Lord Jesus is an Advocate with God in heaven; and this is it for the sake of which thou art made a believer on earth (I Peter 5:9; Heb 12:4). Wherefore has God put this sword, WE HAVE AN ADVOCATE, into thy hand, but to fight thy way through the world? "Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life," and say, "I will go in the strength of the Lord God." And since I have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, I will not despair, though "the iniquity of my heels shall compass me about" (Psa 49:5).

Use Fifth. Doth Jesus Christ stand up to plead for us with God, to plead with him for us against the devil? Let this teach us to stand up to plead for him before men, to plead for him against the enemies of his person and gospel. This is reasonable, for if Christ stands up to plead for us, why should we not stand up to plead for him? He also expects this at our hands, saying, "Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? Who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?" (Psa 94:16). The apostle did it and counted himself engaged to do it; where he saith, he preached "the gospel of God with much contention" (I Thess 2:2). Nor is this the duty of apostles or preachers only, but every child of God should "earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints" (Jude 3).

And, as I said, there is a reason why we should do this; he stands for us. And if we, (1.) Considering the disparity of persons to plead, it will seem far more reasonable. He stands up to plead with God, we stand up to plead with men. The dread of God is great, yea, greater than the dread of men. (2.) If we consider the persons pleaded for. He pleads for sinners, for the inconsiderable, vile, and base; we plead for Jesus, for the great, holy, and honorable. It is an honor for the poor to stand up for the great and mighty, but what honor is it for the great to plead for the base? Reason, therefore, requires that we stand up to plead for him, though there can be little reason why he should stand up to plead for us. (3.) He stands to plead for us in the most holy place, though we are vile; why should we not stand up for him in this vile world, since he is holy? (4.) He pleads for us, though our cause is bad; why should not we plead for him, since his cause is good? (5.) He pleads for us against fallen angels; why should we not plead for him against sinful vanities? (6.) He pleads for us to save our souls; why should not we plead for him to sanctify his name? (7.) He pleads for us before the holy angels; why should not we plead for him before princes? (8.) He is not ashamed of us, though now in heaven; why should we be ashamed of him before this adulterous and sinful generation? (9.) He is unwearied in pleading for us; why should we faint and be dismayed while we plead for him?

My brethren, is it not reasonable that we should stand up for him in this world? Yea, is it not the reason that in all things we should study his exaltation here since he in all things contrives our honor and glory in heaven? A child of God should study in every of his relations to serve the Lord Christ in this world, because Christ, by executing every one of his offices, seeks our promotion hereafter. If these are not sufficient arguments to bow us to yield up our members, ourselves, and our whole selves to God, that we may be servants of righteousness unto him, yes, if by these and such, we are not made willing to stand up for him before men, it is a sign that there is but little, if any, of the grace of God in our hearts.

Yea, further, that we should have now at last in reserve Christ as authorized to be our Advocate to plead for us, for this is the last of his offices for us while we are here and is to be put into practice for us when there are more than ordinary occasions. This is to help, as we say, at a deadlift, even then when a Christian is taken for a captive, or when he sinks in the mire where there is no standing, or when he is clothed with filthy garments, or when the devil doth desperately plead against us our evil deeds, or when by our lives we have made our salvation questionable and have forfeited our evidence for heaven. And why, then, should we not also have Christ in reserve? And when profession and confession will not do when loss of goods and prison will not do when loss of country and of friends will not do, then to bring it in, then to bring it in as the reserve, and as that which will do to wit, willingly to lay down our lives for his name; and since he doth his part without grudging for us, let us do ours with rejoicing for him (Isa 24:15; John 21:19)

Works of John Bunyan – The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness 0f the Loss Thereof; How Christ Manages The Office Of An Advocate.151

 

THE USE AND APPLICATION

3. As we should make use of this doctrine to strengthen faith and prayer, we should also make use of it to keep us humble; for the more offices Christ executes for us with the Father, the greater the sign that we are bad, and the more we see our badness, the more humble we should be. Christ gave for us the price of blood, but that is not all; Christ as a Captain has conquered death and the grave for us, but that is not all: Christ as a Priest intercedes for us in heaven, but that is not all. Sin is still in us and with us and mixes itself with whatever we do, whether what we do is religious or civil, for not only our prayers and our sermons, our hearings and preaching, and so on, but our houses, our shops, our trades, and our beds are all polluted with sin. Nor doth the devil, our night and day adversary, forbear to tell our bad deeds to our Father, urging that we might forever be disinherited for this. But what should we now do, if we had not an Aadvocate—yeah if we had not one who would plead in forma pauperis; yea, if we had not one that could prevail, and that would faithfully execute that office for us? Why, we must die. But since we are rescued by him, let us, as to ourselves, lay our hand upon our mouth, and be silent, and say, "Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory." And, I say again, since the Lord Jesus is fain to run through so many offices for us before he can bring us to glory, oh! how low, how little, how vile and base in our own eyes should we be.

It is a shame for a Christian to think highly of himself since Christ is fain to do so much for him, and he again not at all able to make him amends; but some, whose riches consist in nothing but scabs and lice, will yet have lofty looks. But are not they much to blame who sit lifting up of lofty eyes in the house, and yet know not how to turn their hand to do anything so, but that another, their betters, must come and mend their work? I say, is it not more meet that those that are such, should look and speak, and act as such that declare their sense of their unhandiness, and their shame, and the like, for their unprofitableness? Yea, is it not clear that to everyone they should confess what sorry ones they are? I am sure it should be thus with Christians, and God is angry when it is otherwise. Nor doth it become these helpless ones to lift up themselves on high. Let Christ's advocateship therefore teach us to be humble.

4. As we should improve this doctrine to strengthen faith, encourage prayer, and keep us humble, so we should make use of it to encourage perseverance-that is, to hold on, to hold out to the end; for, for all those causes the apostle setteth Christ before us as an Advocate. There is nothing more that discourages the truly godly than the sense of their own infirmities, as has been hinted all along; consequently, nothing can more encourage them to go on than to think that Christ is an Advocate for them. The services, also, that Christ has for us to do in this world are full of difficulty, and so apt to discourage: but when a Christian shall come to understand that we do what we can, it is not a failing either in matter or manner that shall render it wholly unserviceable, or give the devil that advantage as to plead thereby to prevail for our condemnation and rejection; but that Christ, by being our Advocate, saves us from falling short, as also from the rage of hell. This will encourage us to hold on, though we do but hobble in all our goings, and fumble in all our doings, for we have Christ for an Advocate in case we sin in the management of any duty: If any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." Therefore, let us go on in all God's ways as well as we can for our hearts; when our foot slips, let us tell God of it, and his mercy in Christ shall hold us up (Psa 84:9-12).

Darkness, and being shut up in prison, are also a great discouragement to us; but our Advocate is for giving us light, and for fetching us out of our prison. True, he that Joseph chose to be his Advocate with Pharaoh remembered not Joseph but forget him (Gen 40:14, 23); but he that has Jesus Christ to be his Advocate shall be remembered before God, (Micah 7:8–10). -"He remembered us in our low estate; for his mercy endured forever" (Psa 136:23). Yea, he will say to the prisoners, Show yourselves, and to them in the prison house, Go forth. Satan sometimes gets the saints into prison when he has taken them captive by their lusts (Rom 7:23). But they shall not be always there, and this should encourage us to go on in godly ways, for "we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God."

Works of John Bunyan – The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness 0f the Loss Thereof; How Christ Manages The Office Of An Advocate.150

 

THE USE AND APPLICATION

Use Fourth. Is it so? Is Jesus Christ the Savior also our Advocate? Then let us labor to make that improvement of this doctrine, as it tends to strengthen our graces and our role in their management. Indeed, this should be the use that we should make of all the offices of Christ, but let us, at this time, concern ourselves about this; let, I say, the poor Christian thus expostulate with himself-

1. Is Christ Jesus the Lord my Advocate with the Father? Then awake, my faith, and shake thyself like a giant; stir up thyself, and be not faint; Christ is the Advocate of his people, and he pleaded for the cause of the poor and needy. And as for sin, which is one great stumble to thy acts, O my faith, Christ has not only died for that as a sacrifice, nor only carried his sacrifice unto the Father, in the holiest of all, but is there to manage that offering as an Advocate, pleading the efficacy and worth thereof before God, against the devil, for us. Thus, I say, we should strengthen our faith, for faith has to do with the Word and the offices of Christ. Besides, considering how many assaults are made upon our faith, we find little enough to support it against all the wiles of the devil.

Christians have too little concern for themselves, as I have said, with the offices of Jesus Christ; therefore, their knowledge of him is so little and their faith in him is so weak. We are bid to have our conversation in heaven, and then a man so hath, when he is there, in his spirit, by faith, observing how the Lord Jesus doth exercise his offices there for him. Let us often, by faith, go to the bar of God, there to hear our Advocate plead our cause; we should often have our faith in God's judgment because we are concerned there; there we are accused of the devil, there we have our crimes laid open, and there we have our Advocate to plead; and this is suggested in the text, for it saith, "We have an Advocate with the Father"; therefore, thither our faith should go for help and relief in the day of our straits. I say we should have our faith in God's judgment, and show it there, by the glass of our text, what Satan is doing against, and the Lord Jesus for, our souls. We should also show it how the Lord Jesus carries away every cause from the devil, and from before the judgment, to the comfort of the children, the joy of angels, and the shame of the enemy. This would strengthen and support our faith indeed and would make us more able than, for the most part, we are to apply the grace of God to ourselves, and hereafter to give more strong repulses to Satan. It is easy with a man when he knows that his advocate has overthrown his enemy at the King's Bench bar or Court of Common Pleas, less to fear him the next time he sees him, and more boldly to answer him when he renewed his threats on him. Let faith, then, be strengthened, from its being exercised about the advocateship of Jesus Christ.

2. As we should make use of Christ's advocateship for the strengthening of our faith, so, we should also make use thereof to encourage us to prayer. As our faith is, so is our prayer; to wit, cold, weak, and doubtful, if our faith to be so. When faith cannot apprehend that we have access to the Father by Christ, or that we have an Advocate, when charged before God for our sins by the devil, then we flag and faint in our prayer; but, when we begin to take courage to believe-and then we do so when most clearly we apprehend Christ-then we get up in prayer. And according as a man apprehends Christ in his undertakings and offices, so, he will wrestle with and supplicate God. As, suppose a man believes that Christ died for his sins; why, then, he will plead that in prayer with God. Suppose, also, that a man understands that Christ rose again for his justification; why, then, he will also plead that in prayer; but if he knows no more, no further will he go. But when he shall know that there is also for him an Advocate with the Father, and that that Advocate is Jesus Christ; and when the glory of this office of Christ shall shine in the face of this man's soul; oh, then, he takes courage to pray with that courage he had not before; yea, then is his faith so supported and made strong, that his prayer is more fervent, and importuning abundance. So that, I say, the knowledge of the advocateship of Christ is very useful to strengthen our graces; and, as of graces in general, so of faith and prayer in particular. Wherefore, our wisdom is, so to improve this doctrine that prayer may be strengthened thereby.

Works of John Bunyan – The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness 0f the Loss Thereof; How Christ Manages The Office Of An Advocate.149

 

THE USE AND APPLICATION

THE USE AND APPLICATION

1. With a holy and just God; for he is the judge of all, and his eyes are purer than to behold iniquity; yea, his very essence and presence are a consuming fire; yet, before and with this God, and that for such a people, Jesus Christ, the King, will be an Advocate. For one mean man to be an Advocate for the base, with one that is not considerable, is not so much; but for Christ to be an Advocate for the base, and for the base, too, under the basest consideration, this is to be wondered at.

When Bathsheba, the queen, became an advocate for Adonijah before King Solomon, you see how he flounced at her, for his cause was bad. "And why," said he, "dost thou ask Abishag for Adonijah? Ask for him the kingdom also" (I Kings 2:16-23). I told you before that to be an advocate did run one upon hazards of reproach, and it may easily be thought that the queen did blush when, from the king, her son, she received such a repulse; nor do we hear anymore of her being an advocate; I believe she had enough of this. But oh! This Christ of God, who himself is greater than Solomon, has become an Advocate, "an Advocate with the Father," who is the eternally just, holy, and righteous God; and that for a people, concerning him, him, is worse than could be Adonijah in the eyes of his brother Solomon. Majesty and justice are dreadful in themselves, and much more so when approached by any, especially when the cause, as to matter of fact, is bad, that the man is guilty of who is concerned in the advocateship of his friend; and yet Jesus Christ is still an Advocate for us, "an Advocate with the Father."

2. Consider, also, before whom Jesus Christ doth plead as an Advocate, and that is before, or in the presence and observation of, all the heavenly host; for while Christ pleaded with God for his people, all the host of heaven standing by on the right hand and on the left (Matt 10:32). And though as yet there may seem to be but little in this consideration, yet Christ would have us know, and account it an infinite kindness of his to us that he will confess, and not be ashamed of us before the angels of his Father (Mark 8:38). Angels are holy and glorious creatures, and, in some respect, may have a greater knowledge of the nature and baseness of sin than we while here are capable of; and so may be made to stand and wonder while the Advocate pleads with God for a people, from head to foot, clothed therewith. But Christ will not be ashamed to stand up for us before them, though they know how bad we are, and what vile things we have done. Let this, therefore, make us wonder. 3. Add to these, how unconcerned times those are with themselves, and their own desolate condition, for whom Christ, as an Advocate, labored in heaven with God. Alas!

The soul is as far off from knowing what the devil is doing against it at God's bar as David was when Saul was threatening to have his blood, while he was hid in the field (I Sam 20:26-34). But, O true Jonathan! How didst thou plead for David! Only here thou hadst the advantage of our Advocate, thou hadst a good cause to plead; for when Saul, thy father, said, "David shall surely die," thy reply was, "Wherefore shall he be slain? What [evil] hath he done?" But Christ cannot say thus when he pleaded for us at God's bar; nor is our present senselessness and unconcernedness about his pleading but an aggravation to our sin. Perhaps David was praying while Jonathan was playing the advocate for him before the king his father; but perhaps the saint is sleeping, yea, sinning more, whilst Christ is pleading for him in heaven. Oh! This should greatly affect us; this should make us wonder; this should be so considered by us, as to heighten our souls to admiration of the grace and kindness of Christ.

Works of John Bunyan – The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness 0f the Loss Thereof; How Christ Manages The Office Of An Advocate.148

 

THE USE AND APPLICATION

Use Third. Is Christ Jesus not only a priest of, and a King over, but an Advocate for his people? Let this make us stand and wonder, and be amazed at his humiliation and condescension. We read of his humiliation on earth when he put himself into our flesh, took upon him our sins, and made them as his own unto condemnation and death. And to be an advocate is an office reproachful to the malicious if any man be such a one, for those that are base and unworthy. Yeah, and the higher and more honorable the person who leads for such, the more he humbles himself.

The word doth often in effect account him now in heaven as a servant for us, and acts of service are acts of condescension, and I am sure some acts of service have more of that in them than some; and I think when all things are considered, that Christ neither doth nor can do anything for us there, of a more condescending nature, than to become our Advocate. True, he glories in it; but that doth not show that the work is excellent in itself. It is also one of his titles of honor, but that is to show how highly God esteems of and dignifies all his acts, and though this shall tend at last to the greatening of his honor and glory in his kingdom, yet the work itself is amazingly mean.

I speak after the manner of men. It is accounted so in this world. How ignoble and unrespectful doth a man make himself, especially to his enemy, when he undertakes to plead a bad cause, if it happeneth to be the cause of the base and unworthy! And I am sure we are, everyone, so in ourselves, for whom he has become an Advocate with the Father. True, we are made worthy in him, but that is no thanks to us; as to ourselves and our cause, both are bad enough. And let us now leave off disputing, and stand amazed at his condescension; "Who humbleth himself to behold the things that are in heaven" (Psa 113:6). And men of old did use to wonder to think that God should so much stoop, as to open his eyes to look upon man, or once so much as to mind him (Job 7:17; 14:1-3; Psa 8:4; 144:3, 4). And if these are acts that speak condescension, what will you count on Christ's standing up as an Advocate to plead the cause of his people? Must not that be much more accounted for?

 O, the condescension of Christ in heaven! While cavillers quarrel at such kind of language, let the saints stay themselves and wonder at it, and be so much the more affected with his grace. The persons are base, the crimes are base, with which the persons are charged; wherefore one would think that has but the reason to think, that it is a great condescension of Christ, now in heaven, to take upon him to be an Advocate for such a people, especially if you consider the openness of this work of Christ; for this thing is not done in a corner. This is done in open court.

Works of John Bunyan – The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness 0f the Loss Thereof; How Christ Manages The Office Of An Advocate.147

 

THE USE AND APPLICATION

(1.) Study it with reference to its peculiarities. It is for the children, and nobody else; for the children, little and great. This is children's bread; this is a mess for Benjamin; this is to be eaten in the holy place. Children used to make much of that which, by way of specialty, is by their relations bestowed on them: And Naboth said to Ahab, The Lord forbid it me, that I should give the inheritance of my fathers to thee" (I Kings 21:3). No, truly, I will not. Why so? Because it was my father's gift, not in common with all, but to me in particular.

(2.) Study this office in the nature of it; for therein lies the excellence of anything, even in the nature of it. Wrong thoughts of this or that abuse it and take its natural glory from it. Take heed, therefore, of misapprehending while thou art seeking to apprehend Christ as thy Advocate. Men judge Christ's offices while they are at too great a distance from them; but "let them come near," says God, "then let them speak" (Isa 41:1); or as Elihu said to his friends when he had seen them judge amiss, "Let us choose our judgment; let us know among ourselves what is good" (Job 34:4). So say I; study to know, rightly to know, the Advocate-Office of Jesus Christ. It is one of the easiest things in the world to miss the nature while we speak of the name and offices of Jesus Christ; therefore, look to it, that thou study the nature of the office of his advocateship, of his advocateship for, for so you ought to consider it. There is an Advocate for, not against, the children of God: Jesus Christ the righteous."

(3.) Study this office with reference to its efficacy and prevalence. Job says, "After my words, they spake not again" (Job 29:22). And when Christ stands up to plead, all must keep silent before him. True, Satan had the first word, but Christ the last, in the business of Joshua, and such a last as brought the poor man off well, though "clothed with filthy garments" (Zech 3). Satan must be speechless after a plea of our Advocate, how rampant soever he is afore; or, as Elihu has it, "They were amazed; they answered no more; they left off speaking." Shall he who speaks in righteousness give place, and he who has nothing but envy and deceit be admitted to stand his ground? Behold, the angels cover their faces when they speak of his glory; how then shall Satan not bend before him? In the days of his humiliation, he made him cringe and creep. How much more, then? Now he is exalted to glory, to glory to be an advocate for his people! "If any man sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous."

(4.) Study the faithfulness of Christ in his execution of this office, for he will not fail nor forsake them that have entertained him for their Advocate: "He will thoroughly plead their cause" (Jer 50:34). Faithful and true is one of his titles, and you shall be faithfully served by him; you may boldly commit your cause unto him, nor shall the badness of it make him fail or discourage him in his work; for it is not the badness of a cause that can hinder him from prevailing, because he has wherewith to answer for all thy sins and a new law to plead by, through which he will make thee a conqueror. He is also for sticking to a man to the end if he once engages for him (John 13:1, 2). He will threaten and love, he will chastise and love, he will kill and love, and thou shalt find it so. And he will make this appear at the last, and Satan knows it is so now, for he finds the power of his repulses while he pleaded for him at the bar against him. And all this is done with great faithfulness.

(5.) Study also the need that thou hast of a share in the execution of the advocateship of Jesus Christ. Christians find that they have a need to wash in the blood of Christ and that they have a need to be clothed with the righteousness of Christ; they also find that they need Christ to make intercession for them and that, by necessity, they must approach God and present their prayers and services to him. Still, they do not see that they need Christ to also be their Advocate. And the reason thereof is this: they forget that their adversary makes it his business to accuse them before the throne of God; they consider not the long scrolls and many crimes wherewith he charges them in the presence of the angels of God.

I say this is the reason that the advocateship of Christ is so little considered in the churches; many who have been relieved by his office have not understood what he has thereby done for them. But perhaps this is to be kept from many till they come to behold his face, and till all things shall be revealed, that Christ might have glory given him in the next world for doing that for them, which they so little thought of in this. But do not be content with this ignorance, because the knowledge of his advocating it for you will yield you present relief. Study, therefore, thine own weakness, the holiness of the judge, the badness of thy cause, the subtlety, malice, and rage of the enemy, and be assured that whenever thou sinnest, by and by thou art for it accused before God at his judgment seat. These things will, as it were, by way of necessity, instill into thy heart the need that thou hast of an advocate, and will make thee look as to the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ to justify thee, so too Christ as an Advocate to plead thy cause, as did holy Job in his distresses (Job 16:21).

Works of John Bunyan – The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness 0f the Loss Thereof; How Christ Manages The Office Of An Advocate.146

 

THE USE AND APPLICATION

If any man sins, we have an Advocate." Christian, thou that hast sinned, and that with the guilt of thy sin art driven to the brink of hell, I bring thee news from God—thou shalt not die, but live, for thou hast "an Advocate with the Father." Let this therefore be considered by you, because it yields this fruit.

2. The study of this truth will give you the courage to contend with the devil concerning the largeness of grace by faith since thy Advocate is contending for you against him at the bar of God. It is a great encouragement for a man to hold up his head in the country when he knows he has a special friend in court. Why, our Advocate is a friend at court, a friend there ready to give the onset to Satan, come he when he will. "We have an Advocate with the Father"; an Advocate, or one to plead against Satan for us.

3. This consideration will yield relief when, by Satan's abuse of some other of the offices of Christ, thy faith is discouraged and made afraid. Christ as a prophet pronounces many a dreadful sentence against sin, and Christ as a king is of power to execute them; and Satan as an enemy has subtlety enough to abuse both these, to the almost utter overthrow of the faith of the children of God. But what will he do with him as an Advocate? Will he urge that he plead against us? He cannot; he has no such office. "Will he plead against me with his great power? No, but he would put strength into me(Job 23:6). Wherefore Satan doth all he may to keep thee ignorant of this office; for he knows that as Advocate, when he is so apprehended, the saints are greatly relieved by him, even by a believing thought of that office.

4. This consideration, or the consideration of Christ as exercising this office, will help thee to put by that visor wherewith Christ by Satan is misrepresented to thee, to the weakening and affrighting of thee. There is nothing more common among saints than thus to be wronged by Satan; for as he will labor to fetch fire out of the offices of Christ to burn us, so to present him to us with so dreadful and so ireful a countenance, that a man in temptation and under guilt, shall hardly be able to lift up his face to God. But now, to think really that he is my advocate, this heals all! Put a visor upon the face of a father, and it may perhaps for a while frightening the child, but let the father speak; let him speak in his own fatherly dialect to the child, and the visor is gone, if not from the father's face, yet from the child's mind; yea, the child, notwithstanding that visor, will adventure to creep into its father's bosom. Thus, it is with the saints when Satan deludes and abuses them by disfiguring the countenance of Christ in their view. Let them but hear their Lord speak in his own natural dialect (and then he doth so indeed when we hear him speak as an Advocate), and their minds are calmed, their thoughts settled, their guilt made to vanish, and their faith to revive.

Indeed, the advocateship of Jesus Christ is not much mentioned in the Word, and because it is not often mentioned, perhaps it is that some Christians do so lightly pass it over, when, on the contrary, the rarity of the thing should make it the more admirable; and perhaps it is therefore so little made mention of in the Bible, because it should not by the common sort be abused, but is as it were privately dropped in a corner, to be found by them that are for finding relief for their soul by a diligent search of the Scriptures; for Christ in this office of advocateship is only designed for the child of God; the world hath nothing in addition to that to do. Methinks that which alone is proper to saints and that which by God is designed for them should be mightily taken withal; the peculiar treasure of kings, the peculiar privilege of saints—oh, this should be affecting us! why Christ, as an Advocate, is such. "Remember me, O Lord," said the Psalmist, "with the favor that thou bears unto thy people: O visit me with thy salvation; that I may see the good of thy chosen, that I may rejoice in the gladness of thy nation, that I may glory with thine inheritance" (Psa 106:4, 5). The Psalmist, you see here, is crying out for a share in, and knowledge of, the peculiar treasure of saints, and this of Christ as Advocate is such; therefore, study it and prize it so much the more; this Advocate is ours.

Works of John Bunyan – The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness 0f the Loss Thereof; How Christ Manages The Office Of An Advocate.145

 

THE USE AND APPLICATION

How will men stand for that honor that, by superiors, is given to them, expecting and using all things, to wit, actions, and carriages, so as that thereby their grandeur may be maintained? And saith Christ, "Ye call me Master and Lord; and ye say well; for so I am" (John 13:13). Christ Jesus, our Lord, would have us exercise ourselves in the knowledge of his glorious offices and relative titles because of the advantage that we get from the knowledge of them and the reverence of and love for him that they beget in our hearts. "That disciple," saith the text, "whom Jesus loved saith unto Peter, is the Lord. When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girt his fisher's coat unto him (for he was naked) and cast himself into the sea. And the other disciples came in a little ship": to wit, to shore, to wait upon their Lord (John 21). The very naming of him under the title of Lord, bowed their hearts forthwith to come with joint readiness to wait upon him. Let this also teach us to distinguish Christ's offices and titles, not confound them, for he exercises those offices, and beareth those titles, for great reason, and to our commodity. Every circumstance relating both to Christ's humiliation and exaltation ought to be duly weighed by us, because of that mystery of God, and of man's redemption that is wrapped therein; for as there was not a pin, nor a loop, nor a tack in the tabernacle but had in its use of instruction to the children of Israel, so there is not any part, whether more near or more remote to Christ's suffering and exaltation, but is, could we get into it, full of spiritual advantage to us.

For instance, the water that came out of Christ's side, a thing little taken notice of either by preachers or hearers, and yet John makes it one of the witnesses of the truth of our redemption and a confirmation of the certainty of that record that God, to the world, hath given of the sufficiency that is in his Son to save (John 19:34; I John 3:5–9; 5:5–9; I John 4:9–12).

When I have considered that the very timing of Scripture expressions, and the season of administering ordinances, have been argumentative to the promoting of the faith and way of justification by Christ, it has made me think that both myself and most of the people of God look over the Scriptures too slightly, and take too little notice of that or of those many honors that God, for our good, has conferred upon Christ. Shall he be called a King, a Priest, a Prophet, a Sacrifice, an Altar, a Captain, a Head, a Husband, a Father, a Fountain, a Door, a Rock, a Lion, a Saviour, &c., and shall we not consider these things? And shall God to all these add, moreover, that he is an Advocate, and shall we take no notice thereof, or jumble things so together, that we lose some of his titles and offices, or so be concerned with one as not to think we have need of the benefit of the rest? Let us be ashamed thus to do or think, and let us give to him that which is thus exalted the glory due unto his name.

Works of John Bunyan – The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness 0f the Loss Thereof; How Christ Manages The Office Of An Advocate.144

 

THE USE AND APPLICATION

Seventhly, having thus spoken to these objections, let us now come to make some use of the whole. And,

Use First. I would exhort the children to consider the dignity that God hath put upon Jesus Christ their Saviour, for by how much God hath called his Son to offices and places of trust, by so much he hath heaped dignities upon him. It is said of Mordecai that he was next to King Ahasuerus. And what then? Why, then, the greatness of Mordecai and his high advance must be written in the book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Media and Persia? In the end, his fame might not be buried nor forgotten but remembered and talked of in generations to come (Esth 10). Why, my brethren, God exalted Jesus of Nazareth, hath made him the only great one, having given him a name above every name, did I say?-a name and glory beyond all names and above all names, as doth witness both his being set above all and the many offices which he executes for God on behalf of his people. It is counted no little addition to honor when men are not only made near to the king, but also entrusted with most, if not almost with all the most weighty affairs of the kingdom.

Why, this is the dignity of Christ; he is, it is true, the natural Son of God, and so high, and one that abounds with honor. But this is not all; God has conferred upon him, as man, all the most mighty honors of heaven; he hath made him Lord Mediator between him and the world. This is in general. And particularly, he hath called him to be his High Priest forever and hath sworn he shall not be changed for another (Heb 7:21-24). He hath accepted of his offering once forever, counting that there is wholly enough in what he did once "to perfect forever them that are sanctified"; to wit, set apart to glory (Heb 10:11-14).

He is Captain-general of all the forces God hath in heaven and earth, the King and Commander of his people (ch. 9:25, 28). He is Lord of all, and made "head over all things to the church," and is our Advocate with the Father (Eph 1:22). O, the exaltation of Jesus Christ! Let Christians, therefore, in the first place, consider this. Nor can it be but profitable to them, if withal they consider that all this trust and honor is put and conferred upon him in relation to the advantage and advancement of Christians.

If Christians do but consider the nearness that is betwixt Christ and them, and, withal, consider how he is exalted, it must needs be a matter of comfort to them. He is my flesh and bone that is exalted; he is my friend and brother, thus set up and preferred. It was something to the Jews when Mordecai was exalted to honor; they had, thereby, ground to rejoice and be glad, for that one of themselves was made lord-chief by the king, and the great governor of the land, for the good of his kindred. True, when a man thinks of Christ as severed from him, he sees but little to his comfort in Christ's exaltation; but when he looks upon Christ and can say, My Saviour, my Priest, or the chief Bishop of my soul, then he will see much in his being thus promoted to honor.

Consider, then, of the glories to which God has exalted our Saviour, in that he hath made him so high. It is comely, also, when thou speakest of him, that thou name his name with some additional title, thereby to call thy mind to the remembrance, and so to the greater reverence of the person of thy Jesus; as, our Lord Jesus, our Lord, and Saviour Jesus Christ, "the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus" (II Peter 2:20; Heb 3:1, &c). Men write themselves by their titles; as, John, earl of such a place, Anthony, earl of such a place, Thomas, lord, &c. It is common, also, to call men in great places by their titles rather than by their names; yea, it also pleaseth such great ones well; as, My lord high chancellor of England, My lord privy seal, My lord high admiral, &c.

And thus should Christians make mention of Jesus Christ our Lord, adding to his name some of his titles of honor; especially since all places of trust and titles of honor conferred on him are of special favor to us. I did use to be much taken with one sect of Christians; for that it was usually their way, when they made mention of the name of Jesus, to call him "The blessed King of Glory." Christians should do thus; it would do them good; for why doth the Holy Ghost, think you, give him all these titles but that we should call him by them, and so make mention of him one to another; for the very calling of him by this or that title, or name, belonging to this or that office of his, giveth us occasion, not only to think of him as exercising that office, but to inquire, by the Word, by meditation, and one of another, what there is in that office and what, by his exercising of that, the Lord Jesus profiteth his church.