Selected quad for the lemma: death_n
Text snippets containing the quad
|
ID |
Title |
Author |
Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication) |
STC |
Words |
Pages |
|
A30121
|
The advocateship of Jesus Christ clearly explained, and largely improved, for the benefit of all believers by John Bunyan ...
|
Bunyan, John, 1628-1688.
|
1688
(1688)
|
Wing B5483; ESTC R32593
|
109,364
|
242
|
am condemned at the just Judgment of God. Vide vitam Brunonis 203 Obj. There is Grace the Promise the Blood of Christ cannot these save except Christ be Advocate ib. Answ. These and Advocate and all little enough 204 Christ no Advocate for such as have no Sense of and Shame for Sin. 206 Obj. Is not Christ an Advocate for his Elect uncalled 207 Answ. He died and prayeth for all his Elect as Priest as Advocate pleads for the called only ib. 1 Joh. II. 1. And if any man sin we have an advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous THat the Apostle might obtain due regard from those to whom he wrote touching the things about which he wrote he tells them That he received not his Message to them at second or third hand but was himself an Eye and Ear-Witness thereof That which was from the Beginning which we have heard which we have seen with our Eyes which we have looked upon and our Hands have handled of the Word of Life for the Life was manifest and we have seen it and bear witness and shew unto you that eternal Life which was with the father and was manifest unto us That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you Having thus told them of his ground for what he said he proceeds to tell them also the matter contained in his Errand to wit That he brought them news of Eternal Life as freely offered in the Word of the Gospel to them or rather that that Gospel which they had received would certainly usher them in at the Gates of the Kingdom of Heaven were their Reception of it sincere and in truth For saith he then The Blood of Jesus Christ the Son of God cleanseth you from all sin Having thus far told them what was his Errand he sets upon an Explication of what he had said specially touching our being cleansed from all sin not saith he from a Being of Sin For should we say so we should deceive our selves and should prove that we have no truth of God in us but by cleansing I mean a being delivered from all sin so as that none at all shall have the dominion over you to bring you down to Hell for that for the sake of the Blood of Christ all trespasses are forgiven you This done he exhorts them to shun or fly Sin and not to consent to the Motions Workings Inticeings or the Allurements thereof saying I write unto you that you sin not Let not Forgiveness have so bad an effect upon you as to cause you to be remiss in Christian Duties or as to tempt you to give way to Evil. Shall we sin because we are forgiven or shall we not much matter what manner of Lives we live because we are set free from the Law of Sin and Death God forbid Let Grace teach us another Lesson and lay other Obligations upon our Spiritâ— My little Children saith he these things I write unto you that you sin not What things why tidings of Pardon and Salvation and of that nearness to God to which you are brought by the precious Blood of Christ. Now lest also by this last exhortation he should yet be misunderstood he adds and if any man sin we have an Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous I say he addeth this to prevent desponding in those weak and sensible Christians that are so quick of feeling and of decerning the Corruptions of their Natures For these cry out continually That there is nothing that they do but it is attended with sinful Weaknesses Wherefore in the Words we are presented with two great truths First with a Supposition that Men in Christ while in this World may Sin. If any man sin any man none are excluded for â—ll or any one of the all of them that Christ â—ath redeemed and forgiven are incident to â—in By may I mean not a Toleration but 〈◊〉 Possibility For there is not a Man not a â—ust Man upon the Earth that doth good and â—â—nneth not Eccles. 7.20 1 Kin. 8.46 Secondly the other thing with which we 〈◊〉 presented is an Advocate If any man sin we have an Advocate with Father Jesus Christ the righteous Now there lieth in these two truths two things to be enquired into as 1 What the Apostle should here mean by sin 2. And also what he here doth mean by an Advocate If any man sin we have an Advocate There is ground to enquire after the first of these because tho here he saith they that sin have an Advocate yet in the very next Chapter he saith such are of the Devil have not seen God neither know him nor are of him There is ground also to enquire after the Second because an Advocate is supposed in the Text to be of use to them that sin Iâ— any Man sin we have an Advocate 1. For the First of these to wit what the Apostle should here mean by Sin If any Maâ— Sin. I answer since there is a difference in the Persons there must be a difference in the Sin That there is a difference in the Persons iâ— shewed before one is called a Child of God the other is said to be of the wicked One Their Sin differ also in their Degree at least for no Child of God sins to that Degree aâ— to make himself uncapable of Forgiveness For he that is born of God kâ—â—peth himself and that wicked one toucheth him not Chap. 5.17 18. Hence the Apostle says there is a sin unto Death Mat. 12.32 which is the Sin from which he that is born of God is kept The sins therefore are thus distinguished The Sins of the People of God are said to be sins that Men commit the others are counted those which are the Sins of Devils First the Sins of God's people are said to be Sins which Men commit and for which they have an Advocate tho they who sin after the example of the wicked one have none When a Man or a Woman saith Moses shall commit a Sin which Men commit they shall confess their Sin and an atonment shall be made for them Numb 5.5 6 7. Mark It is when they commit a Sin which Men commit Or as Hosea has it when they transgress the Commandment like Adam Hos. 6.7 Now these are the Sins under considerâ—tion by the Apostle and to deliver us from which we have an Advocate with the Father But for the Sins mentioned in the third Chapter since the Persons sinning go here under another Character they also must be of another Stamp to wit a making Head against the Person Merits and Grace of Jesus Christ these are the Sins of Devils in the World and for these there is no Remission These they also that are of the wicked one commit and therefore sin after the similitude of Satan and so fall into the Condemnation of the Devil Secondly but what is it for Jesus to be an Advocate for these If any Man sin we have an
by Grace by which also I am secured from the Law is not a Law of Sin and Death as that is from under which I am brought Rom. 8.2 but a Law of Grace and Life so that Satan cannot come at me by that Law and by Grace I am by that secured also from the Hand and Mouth and Sting of all other I mean still as to an eternal Concern Wherefore God saith if we break his Law the Law of Works he will visit our Sin with a Rod and our Iniquity with Stripes but his Covenant his new Covenant will he not break Psal. 89.30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37. but will still keep close to that and so secure us from eternal Condemnation Christ also is made the Mediator of tha Covenant and therefore an Advocate by that For his Priestly Office and Advocateship are included by his Mediation Wherefore when Satan pleads by the Old Christ pleads by the new Covenant for the Sake of which the Old one is removed In that he saith A new Covenant he hath made the first Old now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away Heb 8.13 So then the Ground of Plea is with Jesus Christ and not with our Accuser Now what doth Christ plead and what is the Ground of his Plea Why he pleads for Exemption and Freedom from Condemnation tho by the Law of Works his Children have deserved it And the Ground for this his Plea as to Law is the Matter of the Covenant it self For thus it runs For I will be merciful to their Vnrighteousness and their Sins and Iniquities will I remember no more ver 12. Now here is a Foundation a Foundation in Law for our Advocate to build his Plea upon a Foundation in a Law not to be moved or removed or made to give Place as that is forced to do upon which Satan grounds his Plea â—gainst us Men when they plead before a Judge use to plead matter of Law. Now suppose there is an old Law in the Realm by which Men deserve to be condemned to Death and there is a new Law in this Realm that secureth Men from that Condemnation which belongs to them by the old and suppose also that I am compleatly comprehended by all the Provisoes of the new Law and not by any tittle thereof excluded from a share therein And suppose again that I have a brangling Adversary that pursues me by the old Law which yet cannot in Right touch me because I am Interested in the New my Advocate also is one that pleads by the new Law where only there is a Ground of Plea Shall not now mine Adversary feel the Power of his Plea to the delivering of me and the putting of him to Shame Yes verily specially since the Plea is good the Judge just nor can the Enemy find any Ground for a Demurr to be put in against my present Discharge in open Court and that by Proclamation Specially since my Advocate has also by his Blood fully satisfied the old Law that he might establish the New Heb. 10 9 10 11 12. Priv. 4. Fourthly Since that which goeth before is true it follows That he that entereth his Plea against the Children must needs be overthrown For always before just Judges 't is the Right that taketh place Judge the right O Lord. said David or let my Sentence come forth from thee according to the Law of Grace And he that knows what strong Ground or bottom our Advocate has for his Pleadings and how Satan's Accusations are without sound Foundation will not be afraid he speaking in Christ to say I appeal to God Almighty since Christ is my Advocate by the new Law whether I ought to be condemned to Death and Hell for what Satan pleads against me by the Old. Satan urgeth that we have sinned but Christ pleads to his propitiatory Sacrifice and so Satan is over-thrown Satan pleads the Law of Works but Christ pleads the Law of Grace Further Satan pleads the Justice and Holiness of God against us there the Accuser is overthrown again And to them Christ appeals and his Appeal is good since the Law testifies to thes sufficiency of the Satisfaction that Christ has made thereto by his Obedience Rom. 3.22 23. also since by another Covenant God himself has given us to Jesus Christ so delivered us from the Old. Wherefore you read nothing as an effect of Satans pleading against us but that his Mouth is stopp'd as appears by the 3. of Zechariah and that he is cast yea cast down as you have it in the 12. of the Revelations Indeed when God admits not when Christ wills not to be an Advocate and when Satan is bid stand at the right Hand of one accused Psal. 109.6 7. to inforce by pleading against him the things charged on him by the Law then he can prevail prevail for-ever against such a wretched one But when Christ stands up to plead when Christ espouses this or that Man's Cause then Satan must retreat then he must go down And this necessarily flows from the Text we have an Advocate a prevailing one one that never lost Cause one that always puts the Childrens Enemy to the rout before the Judgment-seat of God. This therefore is another Privilege that they have who have Jesus Christ for their Advocate Their Enemy must nâ—eds be overthrown because both Law and Justice is on the other side Priv. 5. Fifthly Thine Advocate has pity for thee and great Indignation against thine Accuser And these are two excellent things When a Lawyer hath pity for a Man whose Cause he pleadeth it will ingage him much but when he has Indignation also against the Man's Accuser this will yet engage him more Now Christ has both these and that not of Humour but by Grace and Justice Grace to us and Justice to our Accuser He came down from Heaven that he might be a Priest and returned thither again to be Priest and Advocate for his And in both these Offices he levelleth his whole Force and Power against thine Accuser For this Cause was the Son of God manifest that he might destroy the Works of the Devil Joh. 3.8 Cunning Men will if they can entertain such an one to be their Advocate who has a particular Quarrel against their Adversary For thus think they he that is such will not only plead for me but for himself and to right his own Wrongs also and since if it be so and it is so here my Concerns and my Advocate 's are interwoven I am like to fare much the better for the Anger that is conceived in his Heart against him And this I say is the Childrens Case their Advocate counteth their Accuser his greatest Enemy and waiteth for a time to take Vengeance and he usually then takes the opportunity when he has ought to do for his People against him Hence he says The Dâ—y of Vengeance is in my Heart and the Year of my redeemed is