METHOD OF THE DISCOURSE. WHEREIN CHRIST'S OFFICE AS ADVOCATE DOTH LIE.
When a man's cause is good, it will sufficiently plead for itself, yes, and for its master too, especially when it is made appear so to be before a just and righteous judge. Here, therefore, he needs no advocate; the judge himself will pronounce him righteous. This is evidently seen in Job-"Thou movest me against him (this said God to Satan), to destroy him without cause" (Job 2:3). Thus far, Job's cause was good, so he did not need an advocate; his cause pleaded for itself and for its owner as well. But if it were to plead good causes for which Christ is appointed Advocate, then the apostle should have written thus: If any man be righteous, we have an Advocate with the Father. Indeed, I never heard but one preacher in all my life preach from this text, and he, when he came to handle the cause for which he was to plead, pretended it must be good and therefore said to the people, See that your cause be good, else Christ will not undertake it. But when I heard it, Lord, thought I, if this be true, what shall I do, and what will become of all these people, yea, and of this preacher too? Besides, I saw by the text, that the apostle supposeth another cause, a cause bad, exceeding bad, if sin can make it so. This was one cause why I undertook this work.
When we speak of a cause, we speak not of a person simply as so considered; for, as I said before, person and cause must be distinguished; nor can the person make the cause good, but as he regulates his action by the Word of God. If, then, a good, righteous man doth what the law condemns, that thing is bad; and if he is indicted for so doing, he is indicted for a bad cause; and he that will be his advocate must be concerned in and about a bad matter; and how he will bring his client off, therein lies the mystery.
I know that a bad man may have a good cause, depending on the judge, and so do good men (Job 31). But then they are bold in their own cause and fear not to make mention of it, and in Christ to plead their innocency before the God of heaven, as well as before men (Psa 71:3-5. II Cor 1:23. Gal 1:10. Phil 1:8) But we have in the text a cause that all men are afraid of—a cause that the apostle concludes is so bad that none but Jesus Christ himself can save a Christian from it. It is not only sinful but sin itself: If any man sins, we have an Advocate with the Father."
Wherefore there is in this place handled by the apostle one of the greatest mysteries under heaven—to wit, that an innocent and holy Jesus should take in hand to plead for one before a just and righteous God, that has defiled himself with sin; yea, that he should take in hand to plead for such a one against the fallen angels, and that he should also, by his plea, effectively rescue and bring them off from the crimes and curses whereof they were verily guilty by the verdict of the law and the approbation of the Judge.
This, I say, is a great mystery, and deserves to be pried into by all the godly, both because much of the wisdom of heaven is discovered in it, and because the best saint is, or maybe, concerned with it. Nor must we by any means let this truth be lost, because it is the truth; the text has declared it so, and to say otherwise is to belie the Word of God, to thwart the apostle, to soothe up hypocrites, to rob Christians of their privilege, and to take the glory from the head of Jesus Christ (Luke 18:11, 12).
The best saints are most sensible of their sins and most apt to make mountains of their molehills. Satan also, as has already been hinted, doth labor greatly to prevail with them to sin and to provoke their God against them, by pleading what is true or by surmising evilly of them, to the end they may be accused by him (Job 2:9). Great is his malice toward them, great is his diligence in seeking their destruction; wherefore greatly doth he desire to sift, to try, and winnow them, if perhaps he may work in their flesh to answer his design—that is, to break out in sinful acts—that he may have by law to accuse them to their God and Father. Therefore, for their sakes, this text abides so that they may see that, when they have sinned, "they have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." And thus have I shown you the nature, order, and occasion of this office of our blessed Lord Jesus.
