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. 179.

 

by Thomas Sadler, oil on canvas, 1684

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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. 178

by Thomas Sadler, oil on canvas, 1684

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

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

I know also, that rewards do wait for them in heaven that do believe in Christ, and shall do well on earth; but this is not a reward of merit, but of grace. We are saved by Christ; brought to glory by Christ; and all our works are no otherwise made acceptable to God but by the person and personal excellencies and works of Christ; therefore, whatever the jewels are, and the bracelets, and the pearls, that thou shalt be adorned with as a reward of service done to God in the world, for them thou must thank Christ, and, before all, confess that he was the meritorious cause thereof. (1 Peter 2:5, Heb 13:15) He saves us and saves our services too. (Rev 5:9-14) They would be all cast back as dung in our faces, were they not rinsed and washed in the blood, were they not sweetened and perfumed in the incense, and conveyed to God himself through the white hand of Jesus Christ; for that is his golden-censer; from thence ascends the smoke that is in the nostrils of God of such a sweet savor. (Rev 7:12-14, 8:3,4) 6. Are those that are already justified by the blood of Christ, such as do still need to be saved by his intercession? Then hence I infer again, that we that have been saved hitherto, and preserved from the dangers that we have met with since our first conversion to this moment, should ascribe the glory to Jesus Christ, to God by Jesus Christ. 'I have prayed that thy faith fail not: I pray that thou wouldest keep them from the evil,' is the true cause of our standing, and of our continuing in the faith and holy profession of the gospel to this very day. Wherefore we must give the glory of all to God by Christ: 'I will not trust in my bow,' said David, 'neither shall my sword save me. But thou hast saved us from our enemies, and hast put them to shame that hated us. In God, we boast all the day long and praise thy name forever. Selah'! 'He always causeth us to triumph in Christ.' 'We rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.' (Psa 44:6-8, 2 Cor 2:14, Phil 3:3) Thus you see that, both in the Old and New Testament, all the glory is given to the Lord, as well for preservation to heaven as for justification of life. And he that is well acquainted with himself will do this readily; though light heads, and such as are not acquainted with the desperate evil that is in their natures, will sacrifice to their own net. But such will so sacrifice but a while. Sir Death is coming, and he will put them into the view of what they see not now and will feed sweetly upon them because they made not the Lord their trust. And therefore, ascribe thou the glory of the preservation of thy soul in the faith hitherto, to that salvation which Christ Jesus our Lord obtaineth for thee by his intercession.

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. 177

 

by Thomas Sadler, oil on canvas, 1684

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

2. Are those who are justified by the blood of Christ such that, after that, they need to be saved by Christ's intercession? From this, we may infer that it is sin, so Satan will not give up assaulting the best of the saints.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

Works of John Bunyan – The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness of the Loss Thereof; The Intercession Of Christ and Who are Privilege In It. 176

 

(3). The Lord Jesus having thus taken our sins upon himself and presented God with all the worthiness that is in his whole self for them, in the next place he calleth for justice, or a just verdict upon the satisfaction he hath made to God and to his law. Then a proclamation is made in open court, saying, “Take away the filthy garments from him,” from him that hath offended, and clothe him with a change of garment (Zech 3).

Thus the soul is preserved that hath sinned; thus the God of heaven is content that he should be saved; thus Satan is put to confusion, and Jesus was applauded and cried up by the angels of heaven and by the saints on earth. Thus have I shown you how Christ does advocate it with God and his Father for us, and I have been more particular in this because the glory of Christ and the comfort of the dejected are greatly concerned and wrapped up in it. Look, then, to Jesus, if thou hast sinned; to Jesus, as an Advocate pleading with the Father for thee. Look to nothing else; for he can tell how, and that by himself, to deliver thee; yea, and will do it in a way of justice, which is a wonder; and to the shame of Satan, which will be his glory; and also to thy complete deliverance, which will be thy comfort and salvation.

Second, But to pass this and come to the second thing, which is, to show you how the Lord Jesus manages this, his office of an Advocate before his Father against the adversary; for he pleadeth with the Father, but pleadeth against the devil; he pleadeth with the Father law and justice, but against the adversary he letteth out himself.

I say as he pleads against the adversary, so he enlargeth himself with arguments over and besides those which he pleadeth with God his Father.

Nor is it meet or needful that our advocate, when he pleads against Satan, should limit himself to matters of law, as when he pleaded with his Father. The saint, by sinning, oweth Satan nothing; no law of his is broken thereby; why, then, should he plead for the saving of his people, justifying righteousness to him?

Christ, when he died, died not to satisfy Satan, but his Father; not to appease the devil, but to answer the demands of the justice of God; nor did he design, when he hanged on the tree, to triumph over his Father, but over Satan; “He redeemed us,” therefore, “from the curse of the law,” by his blood (Gal 3:13). And from the power of Satan, by his resurrection (Heb 2:14). He delivered us from righteous judgment by price and purchase, but from the rage of hell by fight and conquest.

And as he acted thus diversely in the work of our redemption, even so, he also did in the execution of his Advocate’s office. When he pleaded with God, he pleaded so; and when he pleaded against Satan, he pleaded so; and how he pleaded with God when he dealt with law and justice, I have shown you. And now I will show you how he pleaded before him against the “accuser of the brethren.”

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. 175

 

by Thomas Sadler, oil on canvas, 1684

3. As he pleadeth by himself alone, and nowhere else but in the court of heaven with the Father, so as he pleadeth with the Father for us, he observeth this rule-

(1.) He granteth and confesseth whatever can rightly be charged upon us; yet so as that he taketh the whole charge upon himself, acknowledging the crimes to be his own. "O God," says he, "thou knowest my foolishness, and my sins"; my guiltiness "is not hid from thee" (Psa 69:5). And this he must do, or else he can do nothing. If he hides the sin, or lesseneth it, he is faulty; if he leaves it still upon us, we die. He must, then, take our iniquity to himself, make it his own, and so deliver us; for having thus taken the sin upon himself, as lawfully he may, and lovingly doth, "for we are members of his body" ('tis his hand, 'tis his foot, 'tis his ear hath sinned), it followeth that we live if he lives; and who can desire more? 5This, then, must be thoroughly considered, if ever we will have comfort in a day of trouble and distress for sin.

And thus far there is, in some kind, a harmony betwixt his being a sacrifice, a priest, and an Advocate. As a sacrifice, our sins were laid upon him (Isa 53). As a priest, he beareth them (Exo 28:38). And as an Advocate, he acknowledges them to be his own (Psa 69:5). Now, having acknowledged them to be his own, the quarrel is no more betwixt us and Satan, for the Lord Jesus has espoused our quarrel, and made it his. All, then, that we in this matter have to do, is to stand at the bar by faith among the angels, and see how the business goes. O blessed God! what a lover of mankind art thou! and how gracious is our Lord Jesus, in his thus managing matters for us.

(2.) The Lord Jesus having thus taken our sins upon himself, next pleads his own goodness to God on our behalf, saying, "Let not them that wait on thee, O Lord God of hosts, be ashamed for my sake: let not those that seek thee be confounded for my sake, O God of Israel: because for thy sake I have borne reproach; shame hath covered my face" (Psa 69:6,7). Mark, let them not be ashamed for my sake; let them not be confounded for my sake. Shame and confusion are the fruits of guilt, or of a charge for sin, (Jer 3:25), and are but an entrance into condemnation (Dan 12:2. John 5:29). But behold how Christ pleads, saying, Let not that be for my sake, for the merit of my blood, for the perfection of my righteousness, for the prevalency of my intercession. Let them not be ashamed for my sake, O Lord God of hosts. And let no man object, because this text is in the Psalms, as if it were not spoken by the prophet of Christ; for both John and Paul, yea, and Christ himself, do make this psalm a prophecy of him. Compare verse 9 with John 2:17, and with Romans 15:3; and verse 21 with Matthew 27:48, and Mark 15:25. But is not this a wonderful thing, that Christ should first take our sins, and account them his own, and then plead the value and worth of his whole self for our deliverance? For by these words, "for my sake," he pleads his own self, his whole self, and all that he is and has; and thus he put us in good estate again, though our cause was very bad.

To bring this down to weak capacities. Suppose a man should be indebted twenty thousand pounds, but has not twenty thousand farthings wherewith to pay; and suppose also that this man be arrested for this debt, and that the law also, by which he is sued, will not admit of penny bate; this man may yet come well enough off if his advocate or attorney will make the debt his own and will, in the presence of the judges, out with his bags, and pay down every farthing. This is the way of our Advocate. Our sins are called debts (Matt 6:12). We are sued for them by the law (Luke 12:59). And the devil is our accuser, but behold the Lord Jesus comes out with his worthiness, pleads it at the bar, making the debt his own (Mark 10:45. II Cor 3:5). And saith, Now let them not be ashamed for my sake, O Lord God of hosts: let them not be confounded for my sake, O God of Israel. And hence, as he is said to be an Advocate, so he is said to be a propitiation, or amends-maker, or one that appeaseth the justice of God for our sins: If any man sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and he is the propitiation for our sins."

And who can now object to the deliverance of the child of God? God cannot; for he, for Christ's sake, according as he pleaded, hath forgiven us all trespasses (Col 2:13, Eph 4:32). The devil cannot; his mouth is stopped, as is plain in the case of Joshua (Zech 3). The law cannot, for it approves of what Christ has done. This, then, is the way of Christ's pleading. You must know that when Christ pleads with God, he pleads with a just and righteous God, and therefore he must plead law, and nothing but law; and this he pleaded in both of these pleas: first, in confessing the sin, he justified the sentence of the law by pronouncing it evil; and then, in his laying of himself, his whole self, before God for that sin, he vindicated the sanction and perfection of the law. Thus, he magnifies the law, makes it honorable, and yet brings off his client safe and sound in the view of all the angels of God.

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. 174

 

II. I come now to show you how Jesus Christ manages his office as an Advocate for us. And that I may do this to your edification, I shall choose this method to open it first. Show me how he manages this office with his Father. Second. I shall show you how he manages it before him against our adversary.

First, how does he manage his office of Advocate with his Father?

1. He doth it by himself, by no other as deputy under him, no angel, no saint; no work has a place here but Jesus, and Jesus only. This is what the text implies: “We have an Advocate”; speaking of one, but one alone; without an equal or an inferior. We have but one, and he is Jesus Christ. Nor is it for Christ’s honor, the honor of the law, or the justice of God that anyone but Jesus Christ should be an Advocate for a sinning saint. Besides, to assert the contrary, what doth it but lessen sin, and make the advocateship of Jesus Christ superfluous? It would lessen sin should it be removed by a saint or angel; it would make the advocateship of Jesus Christ superfluous, yea, needless, should it be possible that sin could be removed from us by either saint or angel.

Again; if God should admit of more advocates than one, and yet make mention of never a one but Jesus Christ; or if John should allow another, and yet speak nothing but of Jesus only; yea, that an advocate under that title should be mentioned but once, but once only in all the book of God, and yet that divers should be admitted, stands neither with the wisdom or love of God, nor with the faithfulness of the apostle. But saints have but one Advocate, if they will use him or improve their faith in that office for their help; if not, they must take what follows. This I thought good to hint at, because the times are corrupt and because ignorance and superstition always wait for a countenance with us, and these things have a natural tendency to darken all truth, so especially this, which brings to Jesus Christ so much glory and yields to the godly so much help and relief.

2. As Jesus Christ alone is Advocate, so is God’s bar, and that alone is that before which he pleads, for God is to judge himself (Deut 32:36). Heb 12:23). Nor can the cause for which he is now pleading be removed from any other court, either by appeals or otherwise. Could Satan could remove us from heaven to another court, he would certainly be too hard for us, because there we should want our Jesus, our Advocate, to plead our cause. Indeed, sometimes he impleads us before men, and they are glad of the occasion, for they and he are often one. Still, then we have left to remove our cause, and to pray for a trial in the highest court, saying, “Let my sentence come forth from thy presence; let thine eyes behold the things that are equal” (Psa 17:2). This wicked world does sentence us for our good deeds, but how then would they sentence us for our bad ones? But we will never appeal from heaven to earth for right, for here we have no Advocate; “our Advocate is with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

T

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. 173

 

by Thomas Sadler, oil on canvas, 1684

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

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

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

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

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

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. 172

by Thomas Sadler, oil on canvas, 1684

OF THE BENEFITS OF CHRIST'S INTERCESSION.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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. 171

 

by Thomas Sadler, oil on canvas, 1684

[WHY THE JUSTIFIED NEED AN INTERCESSOR.]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.170

 

by Thomas Sadler, oil on canvas, 1684

Inferences from the benefits of Christ's intercession.

Third. And now I come to the third thing that I told you I should speak to, and that is, to those inferences that may be gathered from these words.

1. Are they justified by Christ's blood, such as those who have yet to be saved by his intercession? Then, from here, it follows that justification will stand with imperfection. It doth not, therefore, follow that a justified man is without infirmity, for he that is without infirmity—that is, perfect with absolute perfection—has no need to be yet saved by an act to be performed by a mediator and his mediation.

When I say, justification will stand with imperfection, I do not mean that it will allow, countenance, or approve thereof; but I mean there is no necessity of our perfection, of our personal perfection, as to our justification, and that we are justified without it; yea, that, in justified persons, remains. Again, when I say that justification will stand with imperfection, I do not mean that in our justification we are imperfect, for in that we are complete; 'we are complete in him' who is our justice. (Col 2:10) If otherwise, the imperfection is in the matter that justifies us, which is the righteousness of Christ. Yea, and to say so would conclude that wrong judgment proceedeth from him that imputes that righteousness to us for justification since an imperfect thing is imputed to us for justification. But far be it from those who believe that God is true to imagine such a thing; all his works are perfect, and nothing is wanting in them as to the present design.

[Quest.] But what then do we mean when we say that justification will stand in a state of imperfection?

Answ. Why, I mean that justified men are yet sinners in themselves and are yet full of imperfections—yeah, sinful imperfections. Justified Paul said, 'I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing.' (Rom 7:18) While we are sinners, we are justified by the blood of Christ. Hence, again, it is said, 'he justifies the ungodly.' (Rom 4:5, 5:8, 9) Justification, then, only covers our sin from the sight of God; it makes us not perfect with inherent perfection. But God, for the sake of that righteousness which by his grace is imputed to us, declareth us quit and discharged from the curse, and sees sin in us no more to condemnation.