Chapter 68

Further, by telling of my brother that he hath an Advocate, I put things into his mind that he has not known, or do bring them into remembrance which he has forgotten-to wit, that though he hath sinned, he shall be saved in a way of justice; for an advocate is to plead justice and law, and Christ is to plead these for a saint that has sinned; yea, so to plead them that he may be saved. This being so, he is made to perceive that by law he must have his sins forgiven him; that by justice he must be justified. For Christ as an Advocate pleadeth for justice, justice to himself; and this saint is of himself-a member of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.

Nor has Satan so good a right to plead justice against us, though we have sinned, that we might be damned, as Christ has to plead it, though we have sinned, that we might be saved; for sin cannot cry so loud to justice as can the blood of Christ; and he pleads his blood as Advocate, by which he has answered the law; wherefore the law having nothing to object, must needs acquit the man for whom the Lord Jesus pleads. I conclude this with that of the Psalmist, “Surely his salvation is nigh them that fear him; that glory may dwell in our land. Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other. Truth shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look down from heaven. Yea, the Lord shall give that which is good; and our land shall yield her increase. Righteousness shall go before him; and shall set us in the way of his steps” (Psa 85:9-13).

Use Eighth. But what is all this to you that are not concerned in this privilege? The children, indeed, have the advantage of an advocate; but what is this to them that have none to plead their cause? (Jer 30:12, 13); they are, as we say, left to the wide world, or to be ground to powder between the justice of God and the sins which they have committed. This is the man that none but the devil seeks after; that is pursued by the law, and sin, and death, and has none to plead his cause. It is sad to consider the plight that such an one is in. His accuser is appointed, yea, ordered to bring in a charge against him-“Let Satan stand at his right hand,” in the place where accusers stand. “And when he shall be judged, let him be condemned,” let there be none to plead for his deliverance. If he cries, or offereth to cry out for mercy or forgiveness, “let his prayer become sin” (Psa 109:6-7). This is the portion of a wicked man: “terrors take hold on him as waters, a tempest stealeth him away in the night, the east wind carrieth him away, and he departeth, and as a storm hurleth him out of his place; for God shall cast upon him, and not spare; he would fain flee out of his hand. Men shall clap their hands at him, and shall hiss him out of his place” (Job 27:20-23). And what shall this man do? Can he overstand the charge, the accusation, the sentence, and condemnation? No, he has none to plead his cause. I remember that somewhere I have read, as I think, concerning one who, when he was being carried upon men’s shoulders to the grave, cried out as he lay upon the bier, I am accused before the just judgment of God; and a while after, I am condemned before the just judgment of God. Nor was this man but strict as the religion that was then on foot in the world; but all the religion of the world amounts to no more than nothing. I mean as to eternal salvation, if men be denied an Advocate to plead their cause with God. Nor can any advocate save Jesus Christ the righteous avail anything at all, because there is none appointed but him to that work, and therefore not to be admitted to enter a plea for their client at the bar of God.

Objection. But some may say, There is God’s grace, the promise, Christ’s blood, and his second part of priesthood now in heaven. Can none of these severally, nor all of them jointly, save a man from hell, unless Christ also become our Advocate?

Answer. All these, his Advocate’s office not excluded, are few enough, and little enough, to save the saints from hell; for the righteous shall scarcely be saved (I Peter 4:18). There must, then, be the promise, God’s grace, Christ’s blood, and him to advocate too, or we cannot be saved. What is the promise without God’s grace, and what is that grace without a promise to bestow it on us? I say, what benefit have we thereby? Besides, if the promise and God’s grace, without Christ’s blood, would have saved us, wherefore then did Christ die? Yea, and again I say, if all these, without his being an Advocate, would have delivered us from all those disadvantages that our sins and infirmities would bring us to and into; surely in vain and to no purpose was Jesus made an Advocate. But, soul, there is need of all; and therefore be not thou offended that the Lord Jesus is of the Father made so much to his, but rather admire and wonder that the Father and the Son should be so concerned with so sorry a lump of dust and ashes as thou art. And I say again, be confounded to think that sin should be a thing so horrible, of power to pollute, to captivate, and detain us from God, that without all this ado (I would speak with reverence of God and his wisdom) we cannot be delivered from the everlasting destruction that it hath brought upon the children of men.

But, I say, what is this to them that are not admitted to a privilege in the advocate-office of Christ? Whether he is an Advocate or no, the case to them is the same. True, Christ as a Saviour is not divided; he that hath him not in all, shall have him in none at all of his offices in a saving manner. Therefore, he for whom he is not an Advocate, he is nothing as to eternal life.

Indeed, Christ by some of his offices is concerned for the elect, before by some others of them he is; but such shall have the blessing of them all before they come to glory. Nor hath man ground to say Christ is here or there mine, before he hath ground to say, he also is mine Advocate; though that office of his, as has been already showed, stands in the last place, and comes in as a reserve. But can any imagine that Christ will pray for them as Priest for whom he will not plead as Advocate? or that he will speak for them to God for whom he will not plead against the devil? No, no; they are his own, that he loveth to the end, (John 13:1), to the end of their lives, to the end of their sins, to the end of their temptations, to the end of their fears, and of the exercise of the rage and malice of Satan against them. To the end may also be understood, even until he hath given them the profit and benefit of all his offices in their due exercise and administration. But, I say, what is all this to them that have him not for their Advocate?

You may remember that I have already told you that there are several who have not the Lord Jesus for their Advocate-to wit, those that are still in their sins, pursuing of their lusts; those that are ashamed of him before men; and those that are never otherwise but lukewarm in their profession. And let us now, for a conclusion, make further inquiry into this matter.

Is it likely that those should have the Lord Jesus for their Advocate to plead their cause; who despise and reject his person, his Word, and ways? or those either who are so far off from sense of, and shame for, sin, that it is the only thing they hug and embrace? True, he pleadeth the cause of his people both with the Father and against the devil, and all the world besides; but open profaneness, shame of good, and without heart or warmth in religion, are no characters of his people. It is irrational to think that Christ is an Advocate for, or that he pleadeth the cause of such, who, in the self-same hour, and before his enemies, are throwing dirt in his face by their profane mouths and unsanctified lives and conversations.

If he pleads as an Advocate for any, he must plead against Satan for them, and so consequently must have some special bottom to ground his plea upon; I say, a bottom better than that upon which the carnal man stands; which bottom is either some special relation that this man stands in to God, or some special law he hath privilege by, that he may have some ground for an appeal, if need be, to the justice and righteousness of God; but none of these things belong to them that are dead in trespasses and sins; they stand in no special relation to God: they are not privileged by the law of grace.

Objection.-But doth not Christ as Advocate plead for his elect, though not called as yet?

Answer.-He died for all his elect, he prayeth for all his elect as a Priest, but as an Advocate he pleadeth only for the children, the called only. Satan objecteth not against God’s election, for he knows it not; but he objecteth against the called-to wit, whether they be truly godly or no, or whether they ought not to die for their transgressions (Job 1:9, 10; Zech 3). And for these things he has some colour to frame an accusation against us, and now it is time enough for Christ to stand up to plead. I say, for these things he has some colour to frame a plea against us; for there is sin and a law of works, and a judge too, that has not respect of persons. Now to overthrow this plea of Satan, is Jesus Christ our Advocate; yea, to overthrow it by pleading law and justice; and this must be done with respect to the children only-“My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.”

FOOTNOTES:

1 “Nulled”; repealed or annulled.-ED.

2 “Ingenuity”; ingenuousness, frankness, sincerity.-ED.

3 How deeply important is this essential doctrine of Christianity-a personal investigation. We must hear and see for ourselves, handle the word of life, and not trust to others, however holy and capable they may appear to be; we must search the Scriptures, and pray for ourselves, or we have not the slightest claim to the name of Christian.—ED.

4 The sin here referred to was numbering the people of Israel; see I Chronicles 21:1-ED..

5 This is the great mystery of godliness-God manifest in the flesh, making sinful creatures the members of his own body, and becoming a sin-offering for them. It is a holy, a heavenly, a soul-comforting mystery, which should influence the Christian to an intense hatred to sin, as the cause of his Saviour’s sufferings; and a still more intense love to him, who redeemed us at such a sacrifice.-ED.

6 Altered, by a typographical error, in editions after the author’s death, to “the heathens beheld.”-ED.

7 “Replevy”: a form of law by which goods that are proved to have been wrongfully seized are re-delivered to the owner.-ED.

8 “Donator”; giver, donor; now obsolete.-ED.

9 “Prevented”; gone before, so as to be seen. “Let thy grace, O Lord, always prevent and follow us.”-Common Prayer.-ED.

10This may refer to Bunyan’s own feelings, which are so passionately expressed in his Grace Abounding, No. 327, when he was dragged from his home, his wife, and his children, to be shut up in Bedford jail, for obedience to God. He exclaims, “My poor blind child, who lay nearer my heart than all I had besides, thou must be beaten, must beg, suffer hunger, cold, nakedness, and a thousand calamities, though I cannot now endure that the wind should blow upon thee. I thought this would break my heart to pieces.”-ED.

11 “A hank”; a check, an influence over; obsolete.-ED.

12 “Entertains his lawyer”; hires or retains. So Shakespeare-“Sweet lady, entertain him, To be my fellow-servant to your ladyship.” Gentleman of Verona, Scene IV.-ED.

13 “Shuff”; from the old Saxon word schufan, to reject, cast away.-ED.

14 “Supply of thy defects”; a sufficiency in himself to supply all thy defects and deficiencies.-ED.

15 “Supersedeas”; a writ to stay proceedings, for reasons expressed in it. “Cavils and motions”; quibbles or quirks of special pleading, and moving a court of law to occasion delay and weary out an honest suitor; much of this nuisance has been abated, but enough remains to render a lawsuit uncertain, vexatious, tedious, and expensive.-ED.

16 “Glaver;” to wheedle, flatter, or fawn upon; now obsolete.-ED.

17 This sentence at first sight seems obscure. The children’s bread is the superabounding riches of Divine grace. Satan putting pins into it, may refer to those who profanely pervert the grace of God to evil, by saying, “Let us do evil, that good may come. Whose damnation is just.” These are the dogs who are without, but never were within the fold of Christ. (Phil 3:2, Rev 22:15)-ED.

18 Dr. Watts beautifully illustrates this soul-supporting truth in his hymn (116, verse 2):-“How can I sink with such a prop, As my eternal God, Who bears the earth’s huge pillars up, And spreads the heavens abroad?”-ED.

19 “The whole tale”; the whole number as reckoned and ascertained; nothing being lost.-ED.

20 In the first edition of this treatise, this quotation is from Joshua 3:4, an error which has been continued through every edition to the present one.-ED.

21 “A demur”; now called a demurrer, is when a defect or legal difficulty is discovered, which must first be settled by the judge before the action or proceedings can be carried on.-ED.

22 How consoling a reflection is this to the distressed soul, “Christ never lost a cause.” “Him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out.” “They shall never perish; nor shall any pluck them out of my hand” (John 10:28)-ED.

23 “Nonsuit”; the giving up a suit upon the discovery of some fatal error or defect in the cause.-ED.

24 There is no night in heaven; it is one eternal day; no need of rest or sleep. Christ ever liveth to make intercession for us.-ED.

25 The marginal readings which are found in our venerable version of the Bible are very interesting, both to the unlearned and to the scholar. They often throw a light upon the Scripture. For “and make him honourable,” see Bishop Patrick and Dr. Gill’s annotations.-ED.

26 To draw back from, or in, our dependence upon Christ for salvation, is a distinction which every despairing backslider should strive to understand. The total abandonment of Christianity is perdition, while he who is overcome of evil may yet repent to the salvation of the soul.-ED.

27 “Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him.” He punishes but to restore them in his own time to the paths of peace.-ED.

28 How full of sweet consolation is this spiritual exposition of the Levitical law. It was a type or shadow of good things which were to come. Bunyan possessed a heavenly store of these apt illustrations.-ED.

29 “Branglings”; noisy quarrels or squabbles. “The payment of tithes is subject to many brangles.”-Swift. It is now obsolete, and is substituted by wranglings.-ED.

30 The poor backslider “is blind and cannot see afar off”; this does not affect his title, but is fatal to any present prospect of the enjoyment of his inheritance.-ED.

31 Every sin, however comparatively small, drives us to the mediation of Christ, but it is under a sense of great sins that we feel how precious he is as an Advocate.-ED.

32 What can we render to the Lord? is an inquiry perpetually fostered by the pride that clings to every believer. The world, and all things in it, are his already. We must, as poor trembling beggars, “take the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord,”-rely upon his free gift of a full salvation. All must be done for us gratis, or we must perish. Yes, proud sinner, you must sue as a pauper, or you can never succeed.-ED.

33 In the form of a pauper, one who has nothing to pay with, but is living upon alms.-ED.

34 This Greek word is only once translated “advocate” in the New Testament; but it is used in the Gospel by John (14, 15, 16), and translated Comforter, and applied to the Holy Spirit. Thus, the Holy Ghost is to the Christian [the Greek word ] a monitor or comforter; and our ascended Lord is [the Greek word ] the advocate before his Father’s throne. Both are our counsel-the Spirit to guide, the Saviour to defend, the saints.-ED.

35 The Bible is the only perspective glass by which we can know futurity, and see things that, to carnal eyes, are invisible.-ED.

36 “Ingenuity”; ingenuousness, frankness, candour, generosity: now obsolete in this sense.-ED.

37 “Rovers”; without any definite aim. “Nature shoots not at rovers.”-Glanville.-ED

CHRIST A COMPLETE SAVIOUR:

OR,

THE INTERCESSION OF CHRIST, AND WHO ARE PRIVILEGED IN IT.

BY JOHN BUNYAN

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However strange it may appear, it is a solemn fact, that the heart of man, unless prepared by a sense of the exceeding sinfulness of sin, rejects Christ as a complete Saviour. The pride of human nature will not suffer it to fall, as helpless and utterly undone, into the arms of Divine mercy. Man prefers a partial Saviour; one who had done so much, that, with the sinner’s aid, the work might be completed. No such were the opinions of John Bunyan; the furnace of sharp conviction had burnt up this proud dross; he believed the testimony of Scripture, that from the crown of the head to the soles of the feet all nature is corrupted; so that out of the unsanctified heart of man proceed evil thoughts, murders, and the sad catalogue of crimes which our Lord enumerates, and which defile our best efforts after purity of heart and life. No sinner will ever totally rely upon the Saviour until he is sensible of his own perishing state; hanging by the brittle thread of life over the yawning gulf of perdition; sinking in that sin which will swallow him up in those awful torments which await the transgressor; feeling that sin has fitted him as stubble for the fire; then it is that the cry proceeds from his heart, Lord, save, I perish; and then, and not till then, are we made willing to receive ‘Christ as a complete Saviour’ to the uttermost, not of his ability, but of our necessity. This was the subject of all Mr. Bunyan’s writings, and, doubtless, of all his preaching. It was to direct sinners to the Lamb of God, who alone can take away sin. This little treatise was one of those ten ‘excellent manuscripts’ which, at Bunyan’s decease, were found prepared for the press. It was first published in 1692, by his friends E. Chandler, J. Wilson, and C. Doe.

It is limited to a subject which is too often lost sight of, because it is within the veil—the intercession of Christ as the finishing work of a sinner’s salvation. Many persons limit the ‘looking unto Jesus’ to beholding him upon the cross, a common popish error; but this is not enough; we must, in our minds, follow him to the unseen world, and thus ascend to a risen Saviour, at the right hand of the Father, making intercession for our daily sins. And he is our ONLY Intercessor, and it is a rejection of him, for us to seek the aid of another. Who ever was mad enough to ask Moses to intercede for him, and surely he is as able as Mary or any other saint? To atone for sin calls for the amazing price of the blood of Christ, who was ‘God manifest in the flesh.’ He undertook the work by covenant; and all the ‘saved’ form part of his mystical body; thus perfectly obeying the law in him. He poured out his life to open a fountain for sin and uncleanness; and as they are liable to pollution in their passage through the world, he only is able, and he ever liveth, to make intercession for their transgressions. Thus he becomes a complete Saviour, and will crown, with an eternal weight of glory, all those that put their trust in him. Beautiful, and soul-softening, and heart-warming thoughts abound in this little work, which cannot fail to make a lasting impression upon the reader. Bunyan disclaims ‘the beggarly art of complimenting’ in things of such solemnity. He describes the heart as unweldable, a remarkable expression, drawn from his father’s trade of a blacksmith; nothing but grace can so heat it as to enable the hammer of conviction to weld it to Christ; and when thus welded, it becomes one with him. There is hope for a returning backslider in a complete Saviour; he combines the evidence of two men, the coming and the returning sinner; he has been, like Jonah, in the belly of hell; his sins, like talking devils, have driven him back to the Saviour. Sin brings its own punishment, from which we escape by keeping in the narrow path. Good works save us from temporal miseries, which ever follow an indulgence in sin; but if we fall, we have an Advocate and Intercessor to lift us up; still, if thou lovest thy soul, slight not the knowledge of hell, for that, with the law, are the spurs which Christ useth to prick souls forward to himself. O gather up thy heels and mend thy pace, or those spurs will be in thy sides. Take heed, O persecutor; like Saul, thou art exceeding mad, and hell is thy bedlam. Take heed of a false faith; none is true but that which is acquired by a kneeling, searching, seeking for truth as for hid treasure. Death is God’s bailiff, he will seize thee without warning; but with the saints, the grave’s mouth is the final parting place between grace and sin. Forget not that a good improvement will make your little grace to thrive. Reader, may Divine grace indelibly fix these wholesome truths upon our minds.

GEORGE OFFOR.

CHRIST A COMPLETE SAVIOUR.

‘WHEREFORE 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.’—HEBREWS 7:25.

The apostle, in this chapter, presenteth us with two things; that is, with the greatness of the person and of the priesthood of our Lord Jesus.

First, He presenteth us with the greatness of his person, in that he preferreth him before Abraham, who is the father of us all; yea, in that he preferreth him before Melchisedec, who was above Abraham, and blessed him who had the promises.

Second, As to his priesthood, he showeth the greatness of that, in that he was made a priest, not by the law of a carnal commandment, but by the power of an endless life. Not without, but with an oath, by him that said, ‘The Lord sware, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever, after the order of Melchisedec’; wherefore, ‘this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood.’ Now my text is drawn from this conclusion, namely, that Christ abideth a priest continually. ‘Wherefore 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.’

In the words, I take notice of four things: FIRST, Of the intercession of Christ—He maketh intercession. SECOND, Of the benefit of his intercession—‘Wherefore he is able to save to the uttermost,’ &c. THIRD, We have also here set before us the persons interested in this intercession of Christ—And they are those ‘that come unto God by him.’ FOURTH, We have also here the certainty of their reaping this benefit by him; to wit, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them—‘Wherefore 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.’ 1

[I. OF THE INTERCESSION OF CHRIST.]

FIRST, We will begin with HIS INTERCESSION, and will show you, First, What that is; Second, For what he intercedes; and, Third, What is also to be inferred from Christ’s making intercession for us.