Works of John Bunyan – The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness of the Loss Thereof; The Intercession Of Christ and Who are Privilege In It.169

 

by Thomas Sadler, oil on canvas, 1684

[In Christ's ability to save, lieth our safety.]

But some may say, What is the meaning of the word able? 'Wherefore he can save.' He can save the uttermost. How it come to pass that his power to save is rather put in than his willingness? For willingness, the soul would better have pleased me. I will add two or three words to this question. And,

First, this word table suggests to us the sufficiency of his merit, the great worthiness of his merit, for, as Intercessor, he sticks fast by his merit; all his petitions, prayers, or supplications are grounded upon the worthiness of his person as Mediator and on the validity of his offering as priest. This is more clear if you consider the reason why those priests and sacrifices under the law could not make the worshippers perfect. It was, I say, because there was worthiness and merit in their sacrifices. But this man, when he came and offered his sacrifice, did by that one act 'perfect for ever them that are sanctified,' or set apart for glory. 'But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins, forever sat down on the right hand of God.' (Heb 10:1-12)

When Moses prayed for the people of Israel, he said, 'And now, I beseech you, let the power of my Lord be great, according as thou hast spoken.' But what had he said? 'The Lord is long-suffering and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty—Pardon, I beseech thee, the iniquity of this people according unto the greatness of thy mercy, and as thou hast forgiven these people, from Egypt even until now.' (Num 14:17-19)

Second, has he but power? We know he is willing; otherwise, he would not have promised; it is also his glory to pardon and save. So, then, in his ability lies our safety. What if he were never so willing? If he were not of sufficient ability, what would his willingness do? But he has shown, as I said, his willingness by promising: 'Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.' (John 6:37) So now our comfort lies in his power, in that he can keep his word. (Rom 4:20,21) And this will also be seen when he hath saved them that come to God by him when he hath saved them to the uttermost; not to the uttermost of his ability, but to the uttermost of our necessity; for to the uttermost of his ability, I believe he will never be put to it to save his church; not because he is loath so to save, but because there is no need so to save; he shall not need to put out all his power and to press the utmost of his merit for the saving of his church. Alas! there is sufficiency of merit in him to save a thousand times as many more as are like to be saved by him; 'he can do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think.'

Measure not, therefore, what he can do by what he has, doth, or will do; neither do thou interpret this word to the uttermost, as if it related to the uttermost of his ability, but rather as it relateth, for so it doth indeed, to the greatness of thy necessity. For as he can save thee, though thy condition is, as it may be supposed to be, the worst that ever man was in that was saved, so he can save thee, though thy condition was ten times worse than it is.

What! shall not the worthiness of the Son of God be sufficient to save from the sin of man? or shall the sin of the world be of that weight to destroy that it shall put Christ Jesus to the uttermost of the worth of his person and merit to save therefrom? I believe it is blasphemy to think so. We can easily imagine that he can save all the world—that is, that he can do it—but we cannot imagine that he can do no more than we think he can. But our imagination and thoughts set no bounds on his ability. 'He can do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think.' But what that is, I say, no man can think, no man can imagine. So, then, Jesus Christ can do more than ever any man thought he could do as to saving; he can do we know not what. This, therefore, should encourage those who come to him and those who come to hope. This, I say, should encourage them to let out, to lengthen, and heighten their thoughts by the word, to the uttermost, seeing he can 'save to the uttermost them that come to God by him.'

Works of John Bunyan – The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness of the Loss Thereof; The Intercession Of Christ and Who are Privilege In It.168

 

by Thomas Sadler, oil on canvas, 1684

(3.) There are also the oppositions of sense and reason hard at work for the devil, against the soul; the men of his own house are risen up against him. One's sense and reason, one would think, should not fall in with the devil against ourselves, and yet nothing more common, nothing more natural, than for our own sense and reason to turn unnatural, and are both against our God and us. And now it is hard to come to God. Better can a man hear and deal with any objections against himself than with those that he does make against himself? They lie close, stick fast, speak aloud, and will be heard; yes, they will haunt and hunt him, as the devil doth some, in every hole and corner. But come, man, come, for he can save to the uttermost!

(4.) Now guilt is the consequence and fruit of all this, and what an intolerable burden as guilt! They talk of the stones and of the sands of the sea, but it is guilt that breaks the heart with its burden. And Satan has the art of making the uttermost of every sin; he can blow it up, make it swell, and make every hair of its head as big as a cedar. He can tell how to make it a heinous and unpardonable offense, an offense of that continuance, and committed against so much light that, says he, it is impossible it should ever be forgiven. But, soul, Christ can save to the uttermost; he can 'do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think.' (Eph 3:20)

(5.) Join to all this the rage and terror of men, which thing of itself is sufficient to quash and break to pieces all desires to come to God by Christ; yea, and it doth do so to thousands that are not willing to go to hell. Yet thou art kept and made to go panting on; a whole world of men, devils, and sin is not able to keep you from coming. But how comes it to pass that thou art so hearty, that thou settest thy face against so much wind and weather? I dare say it arises not from yourself nor from any of your enemies. This comes from God, though thou art not aware thereof, and is obtained for thee by the intercession of the blessed Son of God, who can also save thee to the uttermost, that comes to God by him.

(6.) And for a conclusion as to this, I will add that there is much of the honor of the Lord Jesus engaged as to the saving of the coming man to the uttermost: 'I am glorified in them,' saith he. (John 17:10) He is exalted to be a Savior. (Acts 5:31) And if the blessed one does count it an exaltation to be a savior, surely it is an exaltation to be a savior and a great one. 'They shall cry unto the Lord because of the oppressors, and he shall send them a Savior, and a great one, and he shall deliver them.' (Isa 19:20) If it is a glory to be a Saviour, a great Saviour, then it is a glory for a Saviour, a great one, to save, and save, and save to the uttermost—to the uttermost man, to the uttermost sin, to the uttermost temptation. And hence it is that he saith again, speaking of the transgressions, sins, and iniquities that he would pardon, that it should turn to him for a name of joy, praise, and an honor before all nations.' (Jer 33:9) He, therefore, counts it an honor to be a great savior and to save men to the uttermost.

When Moses said, 'I beseech thee, show me thy glory,' the answer was, 'I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee.' (Exo 33:18,19) And when he came indeed to make proclamation, then he proclaimed, 'The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity, transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty.' (Exo 34:6,7) That will by no means clear them, and it will not come to me that they may be saved.

See here, if it is not by himself his glory to make his goodness, all his goodness, pass before us. And how can that be if he saveth not to the uttermost those that come unto God by him? For goodness is by us but by those acts by which it expresses itself to be so. And, I am sure, to save, to save to the uttermost, is one of the most eminent expressions by which we understand it is great goodness. I know goodness has many ways to express itself to be what it is to the world, but then it expresses its greatness when it pardons and saves the uttermost. My goodness, says Christ, extends not to my Father but to my saints. (Psa 16:2,3) My Father has no need of my goodness, but my saints have, and therefore it shall reach forth itself for their help, in whom is all my delight. And, 'Oh, how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee; which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men'! (Psa 31:19) It is, therefore, that which tends to get Christ a name, fame, and glory, to be able to save to the uttermost those that come to God by him.

Works of John Bunyan – The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness of the Loss Thereof; The Intercession Of Christ and Who are Privilege In It .167

 

by Thomas Sadler, oil on canvas, 1684

Christ saves to the uttermost.

Second, I shall now show you something of what it is for Christ, by his intercession, to save to the 'uttermost.' 'He can save them to the uttermost.'

This is a great expression and carries with it much. 'Uttermost' signifies to the outside, to the end, to the last, to the furthest part. And it has respect for both people and things. (Gen 49:26, Deut 30:4, Matt 5:26, Mark 13:27, Luke 15)

1. To persons. Some persons are in their own apprehensions, even further from Christ than anybody else; afar off, a great way off, yet a-coming, as the prodigal was. Now, these many times are exceedingly afraid; the sight of that distance that they think is between Christ and them makes them afraid. As it is said in another case, 'They that dwell in the uttermost parts are afraid of your tokens.' (Psa 65:8) So these are afraid they shall not speed, not obtain that for which they come to God. But the text says He can save to the uttermost, to the very hindermost, those that come to God by him.

Two sorts of men seem to be far, very far from God. (1.) The town sinner. (2.) The great backslider. (Neh 1:9) But both of these, if they come, he can save to the uttermost. He can save them from all those dangers that they fear will prevent them from obtaining the grace and mercy they would need to help them in times of need. The publicans and harlots enter into the kingdom of heaven.

2. As this text respects people, so it respects things. There are some things with which some are attending that are coming to God, by Christ, that make their coming hard and very difficult.

(1.) There is a more than ordinary breaking up of the corruptions of their nature. It seems as if all their lusts and vile passions of the flesh have become masters, and they might now do what they will with the soul. Yea, they take this man and toss and tumble him like a ball in a large place. This man is not master of himself, of his thoughts, nor of his passions—' His iniquities, like the wind, do carry him away.' (Isa 64:6) He thinks to go forward, but this wind blows him backward; he labors against this wind, but cannot find that he gets ground; he takes what advantage opportunity doth minister to him, but all he gets is to be beat out of heart, out of breath, out of courage. He stands still, pants, and gapeth as for life. 'I opened my mouth and panted,' said David, 'for I longed for thy commandments.' (Psa 119:131) He sets forward again but has nothing but labor and sorrow.

(2.) Nay, to help forward his calamity, Satan [and his] angels will not be wanting, both to trouble his head with the fumes of their stinking breath nor to throw up his heels in their dirty places—' And as he was yet a-coming, the devil threw him down and tare him.' (Luke 9:42) How many strange, hideous, and amazing blasphemies have those, some of whom are coming to Christ, injected and fixed upon their spirits against him? There is nothing so common as having some hellish wish or other against God they are coming to and against Christ, by whom they would come to him. These blasphemies are like those frogs I have heard of that will leap up, catch hold of, and hang by their claws. Now help, Lord; now, Lord Jesus, what shall I do? Now, Son of David, have mercy upon me! I say these words are hard work for such a one. But he can save to the uttermost this comer to God by himself.

Works of John Bunyan – The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness of the Loss Thereof; The Intercession Of Christ and Who are Privilege In It.166

 

by Thomas Sadler, oil on canvas, 1684

Object. 1. Perhaps some may say that we are not saved from all punishment of sin by the death of Christ, and if so, we are not saved from all danger of damnation by the intercession of Christ.

Answ. We are saved from all punishment in hellfire by the death of Christ. Jesus has 'delivered us from the wrath to come.' (1 Thess 1:10) So that as to this great punishment, God, for his sake, has forgiven us all trespasses. (Col 2:13) But we being translated from being slaves to Satan to be sons of God, God reserves yet this liberty in his hand to chastise us if we offend, as a father chastiseth his son. (Deut 8:5) But this chastisement is not in legal wrath but in fatherly affection; not to destroy us, but that still we might be made to get advantage, thereby even being made partakers of his holiness. This is, that we might 'not be condemned with the world.' (Heb 12:5-11, 1 Cor 11:32) As to the second part of the objection, there are, as we say, many things that happen between or between the cup and the lip; many things attempt to overthrow the work of God and cause us to perish through our weakness, notwithstanding the price that Christ has paid for us. But what says the Scripture? 'Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake, we are killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things, we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.' (Rom 8:35-39)

Thus the apostle reckoneth up all the disadvantages that a justified person is exposed to in this life and, by way of challenge, declares that not any one of them, nor all together, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, that is towards us by Christ, his death, and his intercession.

Object. 2. It may be further objected that the apostle doth here leave out sin, unto which we know the saints are subject, after justification. And the sin of itself—we need no other enemies—is of that nature as to destroy the whole world.

Answ. Sin is sin, like sin, wherever it is found. But sin as to the damning effects thereof is taken away from them, unto whom righteousness is imputed for justification. Nor shall any or all of the aforementioned, though there is a tendency in every one of them to drive us unto sin, drown us through it, in perdition and destruction. I am persuaded, says Paul; they shall never be able to do that. The apostle, therefore, doth implicitly, though to expressly, challenge sin, yea, sin by all its advantages, and then glorieth in the love of God in Christ Jesus, from which he concluded it shall never separate the justified. Besides, it would now have been needless to have expressly here put in sin by itself, seeing before that he had argued that those he speaks of were freely justified there from.

One word more before I go to the second head. The Father, as I told you, has reserved to himself the liberty to chastise his sons, to wit, with temporal chastisements, if they offend. This still abideth to us, notwithstanding God's grace, Christ's death, or blessed intercession. And this punishment is so surely entailed to the transgressions that we who believe shall commit that it is impossible that we should be utterly freed from that place, insomuch as the apostle positively concluded them to be bastards, what pretenses to sonship soever they have, that are not, for sin, partakers of fatherly chastisements.

For the reversal of this punishment, we should pray if perhaps God will remit it when we are taught to say, 'Our Father, forgive us our trespasses.' And he who admits of any other sense as to this petition derogates from the death of Christ, faith, or both. For either he concludes that for some of his sins, Christ did not die, or that he is bound to believe that God, though he did, has not yet, nor will forgive them, till from the petitioner some legal work be done; forgive us, as we forgive them that trespass against us. (Matt 6:14,15) But now apply this to temporal punishments, and then it is true that God has reserved a liberty in his hand to punish even the sins of his people upon them; yea, and will not pardon their sin, as to the remitting of such punishment, unless some good work by them be done; 'If ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.' (Matt 6:15, 18:28–35)

And this is the reason why some that belong to God are yet so under the afflicting hand of God; they have sinned, and God, who is their Father, punisheth; yea, and this is the reason why some who are dear to God have this kind of punishment never forgiven, but it abides with them to their lives end, goes with them to the day of their death, yea, is the very cause of their death. By this punishment, they are cut off from the land of the living. But all this means is that they might 'not be condemned with the world.' (1 Cor 11:32)

Christ died not to save from this punishment; Christ intercedes not to save from this punishment. Nothing but a good life will save from this punishment, nor will it always be that way.

The hidings of God's face, the harshness of his providences, the severe and sharp chastisements that ofttimes overtake the very spirits of his people, plainly show that Christ died not to save from temporal punishments, prays not to save from temporal punishments—that is, absolutely. God has reserved the power to punish, with temporal punishments, the best and dearest of his people, if need be.5 And sometimes he remits them, sometimes not, even as it pleases him. I come now to the second thing.

Works of John Bunyan – The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness 0f the Loss Thereof; The Intercession Of Christ and Who are Privilege In It.165

 

2. Now the saving intended in the text is saving in this second sense; that is, a saving of us by preserving us, by delivering of us from all those hazards that we run betwixt our state of justification and our state of glorification. Yea, such a saving of us as we that are justified need to bring us into glory. Therefore,

When he saith he can save, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession, he addeth saving to saving; saving by his life to saving by his death; saving by his improving of his blood to saving by his spilling of his blood. He gave himself a ransom for us, and now improves that gift in the presence of God by way of intercession. For, as I have hinted already, the high priests under the law took the blood of the sacrifices that were offered for sin, and brought it within the veil, and there sprinkled it before and upon the mercy seat, and by it made intercession for the people to an additional way of saving them; the sum of which Paul thus applies to Christ when he saith, 'He can save, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession.'

That also in the Romans is clear to this purpose, 'Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died.' (Rom 8:31-39) That is, who is he that shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect to condemnation to hell since Christ has taken away the curse by his death from before God? Then he adds, that there is nothing that shall yet happen to us, that shall destroy us since Christ also liveth to make intercession for us. 'Who shall condemn? It is Christ that died; yea, rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.'

Christ, then, by his death saveth us as we are sinners, enemies, and in a state of condemnation by sin; and Christ by his life saveth us as considered justified, and reconciled to God by his blood. So, then, we have salvation from that condemnation that sin had brought us unto, and salvation from those ruins that all the enemies of our souls would yet bring us unto, but cannot; for the intercession of Christ preventeth. 4 (Rom 6:7-10)

Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law. Whatever the law can take hold of to curse us for, Christ has redeemed us from, by being made a curse for us. But this curse that Christ was made for us, must be confined to his sufferings, not to his exaltation, and, consequently, not to his intercession, for Christ is made no curse but when he suffered; not in his intercession: so then, as he died he took away the curse, and sin that was the cause thereof, by the sacrifice of himself, (Gal 3:13), and by his life, his intercession, he saveth us from all those things that attempt to bring us into that condemnation again.

The salvation, then, that we have by the intercession of Christ, as was said—I speak now of them capable of receiving comfort and relief by this doctrine—is salvation that follows upon, or comes after justification. We that are saved as to justification of life, need yet to be saved with that preserveth to glory; for though by the death of Christ we are saved from the curse of the law, yet attempts are made by many that we may be kept from the glory that justified persons are designed for. From these, we are saved by his intercession.

A man, then, that must be eternally saved is to be considered, (a.) As an heir of wrath. (b.) As an heir of God. An heir of wrath he is in himself by sin; an heir of God he is by grace through Christ. (Eph 2:3, Gal 4:7) Now, as an heir of wrath he is redeemed, and as an heir of God he is preserved; as an heir of wrath he is redeemed by blood, and as an heir of God, he is preserved by this intercession. Christ by his death, then, puts me, I being reconciled to God thereby, into a justified state, and God accepts me to grace and favor through him. But this doth not hinder but that, all this notwithstanding, there are, that would frustrate me of the end to which I am designed by this reconciliation to God, by redemption through grace; and from the accomplishing of this design I am saved by the blessed intercession of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Works of John Bunyan – The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness 0f the Loss Thereof; How Christ Manages The Office Of An Advocate.164

 

by Thomas Sadler, oil on canvas, 1684

[SECOND.] And thus have I spoken to the first thing—to wit, of the intercession of Christ—and now I come more particularly to speak to the second, THE BENEFITS OF HIS INTERCESSION, namely, that we are saved thereby. Therefore, he can save them, seeing as he makes intercession for them. 'He can save them to the uttermost.'

In my handling of this head, I must first show you what the apostle means here by 'save'—'Wherefore he can save.' Second, What he means here by saving to the 'uttermost'—' He can save to the uttermost.' Third, and then, thirdly, we shall do as we did in the foregoing—to wit, gather some inferences from the whole, and speak to them.

First, What does the apostle mean here by 'save'—' He can save them.'

To'save' may be taken two ways. In general, I know it may be taken many ways, for there are many salvations that we enjoy—yeah, that we never knew of, nor can know, until we come thither, where all secret things shall be seen, and where that which has been done in darkness shall be proclaimed upon the housetops. But I say there are two ways that this word may be taken: 1. To save in a way of justification. 2. Or to save by way of preservation. Now, Christ saves both of these ways. But which of these, or whether both of them are intended in this place, of that I shall tell you my thoughts anon; meanwhile, I will show you,

1. What it is to be saved in the first sense, [namely, in a way of justification], and also how that is brought to pass.

To be saved is to be delivered from the guilt of sin that is by the law, as it is the mixture of death and condemnation; or to be set free therefrom before God. This is to be saved; for he that is not set free therefrom, whatever he may think of himself or whatever others may think concerning him, he is a condemned man. It says not; he shall be, but he is condemned already. (John 3:18) The reason is that he has deserved the sentence of the ministry of condemnation, which is the law. Yea, that law has already arraigned, accused, and condemned him before God, for it has found him guilty of sin. Now he that is set free from this, or, as the phrase is, 'being made free from sin,' (Rom 6:22); that is, from the imputation of guilt, there can, to him, be no condemnation, no condemnation to hell fire; but the person thus made free may properly be said to be saved. Wherefore, as sometimes it saith, we shall be saved, respecting saving in the second sense, or the utmost completion of salvation; so sometimes it saith, we are saved, as respecting our being already secured from guilt, and so from condemnation to hell for sin, and so set safe and quit from the second death before God. (1 Cor 1:18, Eph 2:5)

Now, saving thus comes to us by what Christ did for us in this world, by what Christ did for us as suffering for us. I say it comes to us thus; that is, it comes to us by grace through the redemption that is in Christ. And thus to be saved is called justification, justification to life, because one thus saved is, as I said, acquitted from guilt, and that everlasting damnation to which for sin he had made himself obnoxious by the law. (1 Cor 15:1-4, Rom 5:8–10)

Hence we are said to be saved by his death, justified by his blood, and reconciled to God by the death of his Son, all of which must respect his offering of himself on the day he died and not his improving his so dying in a way of intercession, because in the same place, the apostle reserved a second, or additional salvation, and applied that to his intercession, 'Much more then, being now,' or already, 'justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him'; that is, through what he will further do for us. 'For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his son, much more by being reconciled,' that is, by his death, 'we shall be saved by his life,' his intercession, which he ever liveth to complete. (verse 9,10)

See here, we are said to be justified, reconciled already, and therefore we shall be saved, justified by his blood and death, and saved through him by his life.

Works of John Bunyan – The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness 0f the Loss Thereof; Of The Intercession Of Christ 163.

 

by Thomas Sadler, oil on canvas, 1684

4. Since Christ is an intercessor, I infer that he has wherewithal in readiness to answer any demands that may be propounded by him that he has been by us to renew peace and let out of that grace to us that we have sinned away and yet need. Oftentimes, the offended say to the intercessor, Well, thou comest to me about this man; what interest he has in you is one thing, and what offense he has committed against me is another. I speak now after the manner of men. Now, what can an intercessor do if he is not able to answer this question? But now, if he can answer this question—that is, according to law and justice, no question—he may prevail with the offended, for whom he makes intercession.

Why, this is our case; to be sure, thus far, we have offended a just and holy God, and Jesus Christ becomes the Intercessor. He also knows full well that for our parts, if it would save us from hell, we cannot produce towards peace with God so much as poor two farthings; that is, not anything that can by law and justice be esteemed worth a halfpenny; yet he makes intercession. It follows, therefore, that he has wherewith of his own if that question afore is propounded, to answer to every reasonable demand. Hence, it is said that he has gifts as well as a sacrifice for sin. 'Every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices; therefore, it is of necessity that this man has somewhat to offer.' (Heb 8:3) And, observe it, the apostle speaks here of Christ as in heaven, there ministering in the second part of his office: 'For if he were on earth, he should not be a priest.' (verse 4) These gifts, therefore, and this sacrifice, he now offereth in heaven by way of intercession, urging and pleading as an Intercessor, the valuableness of his gifts for the pacifying of that wrath that our Father hath conceived against us for the disobediences that we are guilty of. 'A gift in secret pacifieth anger; and a reward in the bosom strong wrath.' (Prov 21:14)

What gifts these are, the Scripture everywhere testifies. He gave himself, he gave his life, and he gave his all for us. (John 6, Gal 1:4, 1 Tim 2:6, Matt 20:28) These gifts, as he offered them up at the demand of justice on Mount Calvary for us, so now that he is in heaven, he presents them continually before God as gifts and sacrifices valuable for the sins, for all the sins that we, through infirmity, do commit, from the day of our conversion to the day of our death. And these gifts are so satisfactory, so prevalent with God, that they always prevail for a continual remission of our sins with him. Yea, they prevail with him for more than for the remission of sins; we have, through their procurement, our graces often renewed, the devil often rebuked, the snare often broken, guilt often taken away from the conscience, and many a blessed smile from God and a love-look from his life-creating countenance. (Eph 3:12)

5. Since Christ is an Intercessor, I infer that believers should not rest at the cross for comfort; justification they should look for there; but, being justified by his blood, they should ascend up after him to the throne. At the cross, you will see him in his sorrows and humiliations, in his tears and blood; but follow him to where he is now, and then you shall see him in his robes, in his priestly robes, and with his golden girdle about his paps. Then you shall see him wearing the breastplate of judgment and with all your names written upon his heart.

Then you shall perceive that the whole family in heaven and earth is named by him, and how he prevails with God, the Father of mercies, for you. Stand still awhile and listen; yea, enter with boldness into the holiest, and see your Jesus as he now appears in the presence of God for you; what work he makes against the devil and sin, and death and hell, for you. (Heb 10:9) Ah! it is brave following of Jesus Christ to the holiest; the veil is rent, and you may see with an open face as in a glass, the glory of the Lord. This, then, is our High Priest; this is his intercession, and these are the benefits of it! It lies on our part to improve it, and wisdom to do that also comes from the mercy seat, or throne of grace, where he, even our High Priest, ever liveth to make intercession for us, to whom be glory forever and ever.

Works of John Bunyan – The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness 0f the Loss Thereof; Of The Intercession Of Christ 162.

  

by Thomas Sadler, oil on canvas, 1684

2. By Christ's intercession, I gather that awakened men and women, such as the godly, dare not, after offense given, come in their own names to make unto God an application for mercy. God, in himself, is a consuming fire, and sin has made the best of us as stubble is to fire; therefore, they may not, they cannot, and they dare not approach God's presence for help but by and through a mediator and intercessor. When Israel saw the fire, the blackness, and darkness and heard the thunder, the lightning, and the terrible sound of the trumpet, 'they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die.' (Exo 20:19, Deut 18:16) Guilt and a sense of the disparity that exists between God and us will make us lookout for a man who may lay his hand upon us both and who may set us right in the eyes of our Father again. This, I say, I infer from the intercession of Christ, for if there had been a possibility of our ability to have approached God with advantage without, what need had there been of the intercession of Christ?

Absalom does not approach—no, not the presence of his father—by himself, without a mediator and intercessor; therefore, he sends Joab to go to the king and make intercession for him. (2 Sam 13, 14:32, 33) Also, Joab did not go upon that errand himself but by the mediation of another. Sin is a fearful thing; it will quash and quail the courage of a man and make him afraid to approach the presence of him whom he has offended, though the offended is a man. How much more, then, shall it discourage a man, when once loaded with guilt and shame, from attempting to approach the presence of a holy and sin-avenging God, unless he can come to him through, and in the name of, an intercessor? But here now is the help and comfort of the people of God—there is to help them under all their infirmities an intercessor prepared, and at work. 'He ever liveth to make intercession.'

3. I also infer that should we, out of ignorance and presumption, attempt, when we have offended ourselves, to approach the presence of God, God would not accept us. He told Eliphaz so. What Eliphaz thought or was about to do, I know not; but God said unto him, 'My wrath is kindled against thee and against thy two friends, for ye have not spoken of me the right thing, as my servant Job has. Therefore, take unto you now seven bullocks and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves [that is, by him] a burnt offering and my servant Job shall pray for you; for him will I accept; lest I deal with you after your folly, in that ye have not spoken of me the right thing, like my servant Job.' See here, an offense is a bar and an obstruction to acceptance with God, but by a mediator, but by an intercessor. He that comes to God by himself, God will answer him by himself—that is, without an intercessor; and I will tell you, such are not like to get any pleasant or comfortable answer will answer him that so cometh according to the multitude of his idols. 'And I will set my face against that man and will make him a sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from the midst of my people, and ye shall know that I am the Lord.' (Eze 14:7,8)

He that intercedes for another with a holy and just God had to clean himself, lest he with whom he so busieth himself say to him, First clear yourself, and then come and speak for your friend. Wherefore, this is the very description and qualification of this our High Priest and blessed Intercessor: 'For such a high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens; who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins,' &c. (Heb 7:26,27) Had we not had such an intercessor, we would have been, but in a very poor case; but we have one that becomes us, one that fits us to the purpose, one against whom our God hath nothing, can object nothing, and one in whose mouth no guile could be found.

Works of John Bunyan – The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness 0f the Loss Thereof; Of The Intercession Of Christ 161.

 

by Thomas Sadler, oil on canvas, 1684

(4.) He also, in the last place, in this his intercession, urges a reason why he will have it so, namely, 'That they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me; for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.' (verse 24) And this is a reason to the purpose; it is as if he had said, Father, these have continued with me in my temptations; these have seen me under all my disadvantages; these have seen me in my poor, low, contemptible condition; these have seen what scorn, reproach, slanders, and disgrace I have borne for thy sake in the world; and now I will have them also be where they shall see me in my glory. I have told them that I am thy Son, and they have believed that; I have told them that thou lovest me, and they have believed that; I have also told them that thou wouldest take me again to glory, and they have believed that; but they have not seen my glory, nor can they but be like the Queen of Sheba; they will but believe by the halves unless their own eyes do behold it. Besides, Father, these are they that love me, and it will be an increase of their joy if they may but see me in glory; it will be as heaven to their hearts to see their Saviour in glory. I will, therefore, that those whom 'thou hast given me be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory.' This, therefore, is a reason why Christ Jesus, our Lord, intercedes to have his people with him in glory.

Third, I come now to the third thing, namely, to show you what is to be inferred from Christ's making intercession for us.

1. This is to be inferred from hence, that saints—for I will here say nothing of those of the elect uncalled—do ofttimes give occasion of offense to God, even they that have received grace; for intercession is made to continue one in the favour of another and to make up those breaches that, at any time, shall happen to be made by one to the alienating of the affections of the other. And thus he makes reconciliation for iniquity, for reconciliation may be made for iniquity in two ways: first, by paying a price; second, by insisting upon the price paid for the offender by way of intercession. Therefore you read that as the goat was to be killed, so his blood was, by the priest, to be brought within the veil, and, in a way of intercession, to be sprinkled before and upon the mercy seat: 'Then shall he kill the goat of the sin-offering, that is, for the people, and bring his blood within the veil, and do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it upon the mercy-seat, and before the mercy-seat; and he shall make an atonement for the holy place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions in all their sins: and so shall he do for the tabernacle of the congregation that remaineth among them, amid their uncleanness.' (Lev 16:15,16) This was to be done, as you see, that the tabernacle, which was the place of God's presence and graces, might yet remain among the children of Israel, notwithstanding their uncleannesses and transgressions. This, too, is the effect of Christ's intercession; it is that the signs of God's presence and his grace might remain among his people, notwithstanding that they have, by their transgressions, so often provoked God to depart from them.

Works of John Bunyan – The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness 0f the Loss Thereof; The Intercession of Christ, And Who Are Priviledged.160

 

by Thomas Sadler, oil on canvas, 1684

3. In his intercession, he also prays that those graces that we receive at conversion may be maintained and supplied. This is clear when he saith, 'Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat; but I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not.' (Luke 22:31,32) Ay, may some say, he is said to pray here for the support and supply of faith, but does it therefore follow that he prayed for the maintenance and supply of all our graces? Yes, in that he prayed for the preservation of our faith, he prayed for the preservation of all our graces; for faith is the mother grace, the root grace, the grace that hath all others in the bowels of it, and that from the which all others flow; yea, it is that which gives being to all our other graces, and that by which all the rest do live. Let, then, faith be preserved, and all graces continue and live—that is, according to the present state, health, and degree of faith. So, then, Christ prayed for the preservation of every grace when he prayed for the preservation of faith. That text also has the same tendency where he says, 'Keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given men.' (John 17:11) Keep them in thy fear, in the faith, in the true religion, in the way of life by thy grace, by thy power, by thy wisdom, &c. This must be much of the meaning of this place, and whoever excludes this sense will make poor work of another exposition.

4. He also in his intercession prayeth that our persons be preserved, and brought safe unto his heavenly kingdom. And this he doth, (1.) By pleading interest in them. (2.) By pleading that he had given, by promise, glory to them. (3.) By pleading his own resolution to have it so. (4.) By pleading the reason why it must be so.

(1.) He prays that their persons may come to glory, for that they are his, and that by the best of titles: 'Thine they were, and thou gavest them me.' (John 17:6) Father, I will have them; Father, I will have them, for they are mine: 'Thine they were, and thou gavest them me.' What is mine, my wife, my child, my jewel, or my joy? Sure, I may have it with me. Thus, therefore, he pleads or cries in his intercession that our persons might be preserved to glory: They are mine, 'and thou gavest them me.'

(2.) He also pleads that he had given—given already, that is, in the promise—glory to them, and therefore they must not go without it. 'And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them.' (John 17:22) Righteous men, when they give a good thing by promise, they design the performance of that promise; nay, they more than design it, they purpose, they determine it. As the mad prophet also saith of God, in another case, 'Hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?' (Num 23:19) Hath Christ given us glory, and shall we not have it? Yea, hath the truth itself bestowed it upon us, and shall those to whom it is given, even given by Scripture of truth, be yet deprived thereof?

(3.) He pleads in his interceding that they might have glory—his own resolution to have it so. 'Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am.' (John 17:24) Behold, you are here; he is resolved to have it so. It must be so. It shall be so. I will have it so. We read of Adonijah that his father never denied him anything. He never said to him, 'Why hast thou done so?' (1 Kings 1:6) Indeed, he denied him the kingdom, for his brother was the heir of that from the Lord. How much more will our Father let our Lord Jesus have his mind and will in this since he is also as willing to have it as is the Son himself? 'Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.' (Luke 12:32) Resolution will drive things far, especially resolution to do that which none but they that cannot hinder shall oppose. Why is this the case? The resolution of our intercessor is that we be preserved to glory; yes, and this resolution he pleads in his intercession: 'Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am,' &c. (John 17:24) Must it not, therefore, now be so?