his Hand upon them both Chap. 9.33 But our Mercy iâ— we have one to plead our cause an Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous who will not suffer our Soul to be spilt and spoiled before the Throne but will surely plead our Cause 6. Another thing that the Apostle would have us learn from the words is this That to remember and to believe that Jesus Christ is an Advocate for us when we have sinned is the next way to support and strengthen our Faith and Hope Faith and Hope are very apt to faint when our sins in their Guilt do return upon us nor is there any more proper way to relieve our Souls than to understand that the Son of God is our Advocate in Heaven True Christ died for our Sins as a Sacrifice and as a Priest he sprinkleth with his Blood the Mercy-seat Ay but here is one that has sinned after Profession of Faith that has sinned grievously so grievously that his Sins are come up before God yea are at his Bar pleaded against him by the Accuser of the Brethren by the Enemy of the godly What shall he do now Why let him believe in Christ. Believe that 's true but how now must he conceive in his mind of Christ for the encouraging of him so to do Why let him call to mind that Jesus Christ is an Advocate with the Father and as such he meeteth the Accuser at the Bar of God pleads for this Man that has sinned against this Accuser and prevaileth for ever against him Here now tho Satan be turned Lawyer tho he accuseth yea tho his charge against us is true for suppose that we have sinned yet our Advocate is with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous Thus is Faith encouraged thus is Hope strengthened thus is the Spirit of the sinking Christian revived and made to wait for a good deliverance from a bad cause and a cunning Adversary Specially if you consider 7. That the Apostle also doth further suppose by the Text That Jesus Christ as Advocate if he will but plead our Cause let that be never so black is able to bring us off even before Gods Judgment-Seat to our Joy and the confounding of our Adversary For when he saith we have an Advocate he speaks nothing if he means not thus But he doth mean thus he must mean thus because he seeketh here to comfort and support the Fallen Has any Man sinned we have an Advocate But what of that if yet he be unable to fetch us off when charged for Sin at the Bar and before the Face of a righteous Judge But he is able to do this the Apostle says so in that he supposeth a Man has sinned as any Man among the Godly ever did for so we may understand it and if he giveth us not leave to understand it so he saith nothing to the purpose neither For it will be objected by some But can he fetch me off tho I have done as David as Solomon as Peter or the like It must be answered yes the openness of the terms anyman the indefiniteness of the word Sin doth naturally allow us to take him in the largest Sense besides he brings in this Saying as the chief most apt and fittest to relieve one crush'd down to Death and Hell by the Guilt of Sin and a wounded Conscience Further methinks by these words the Apostle seems to triumph in his Christ Saying my Brethren I would have you study to be holy but if your Adversary the Devil should get the Advantage of you and besmear you with the filth of Sin you have yet besides all that you have heard already an Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous Who is as to his Person interest with God his Wisdom and Worth able to bring you off to the comforting of your Souls Let me therefore for a Conclusion as to this give you an exhortation to believe to hope and expect that though you have sinned for I now speak to the fallen Saint that Jesus Christ will make a good end with thee trust I say in him and he shall bring it to pass I know I put thee upon a hard and difficult task for believing and expecting Good when my guilty Conscience doth nothing but clog burden and terrifie me with the Justice of God the Greatness of my Sins and the burning Torments is hard and Sweating work But it must be the Text calls for it thy case calls for it and thou must do it if thou wouldst glorifie Christ. And this is the way to hasten the issue of thy Cause in Hand for believing daunts the Devil pleaseth Christ and will help thee before-hand to sing that Song of the Church saying O Lord thou hast pleaded the Causes of my Soul thou hast redeemed my Life Lam. 3.55 56 57 58 59. Yea believe and hear thy pleading Lord say to thee Thus saith the Lord the Lord and thy God that pleadeth the Cause of his People Behold I have taken out of thy Hand the Cup of trembling even the dregs of the Cup of my Fury thou shalt no more drink it again Isa. 51.20 21 22. I am not here discoursing of the sweetness of Christ's Nature but of the Excellency of his Offices and of his Office of Advocateship in particular which as a Lawyer for his Client he is to execute in the Presence of God for us Love may be where there is no Office and so where no Power is to do us good but now when Love and Office shall meet they will surely both combine in Christ to do the fallen Christian good But of his Love we have treated elsewhere we will here discourse of the Office of this loving One. And for thy further Information let me tell thee That God thy Father counteth that thou wilt be when compared with his Law but a poor one all thy Days Yea the Apostle tells thee so in that he saith there is an Advocate provided for thee When a Father provides Crutches for his Child he doth as good as say I count that my Child will be yet Infirm And when God shall provide an Advocate he doth as good as say my People are subject to Infirmities Do not therefore think of thy self above what by plain Texts and fair Inferences drawn from Christ's Offices thou art bound to think What doth it bespeak concerning thee That Christ is always a Priest in Heaven and there ever lives to make Intercession for thee Heb. 7.24 but this that thou art at thy best in thy self yea and in thy best exercising of all thy Graces too but a poor pitiful sorry sinful Man. A Man that would when yet most holy be certainly cast away did not thy high-Priest take away for thee the iniquity of thy holy things The Age we live in is a wanton Age the Godly are not so humble and low and base in their own Eyes as they should Tho their daily experience calls for it and the Priest-hood of
which is the Promise and the Doctrine of an Advocate with the Father No let not the Apprehension of the Badness of thy Cause do it for as much as he did never yet take Cause in Hand that was good perfectly good of it self And his Excellency is to make a Man stand that has a bad Cause yea he can make a bad Cause good in a way of Justice and Righteousness And for thy further Encouragement in this Matter I will here bring in the fourth chief Head to wit to shew what excellent Privileges I mean over and above what has already been spoke of they have that are made Partakers of the Benefit of this Office. If any Man sin we have an Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous First Priv. 1. Thy Advocate pleads to a Price paid to a Propitiation made and this is a great Advantage Yea he pleads to a Satisfaction made for all Wrongs done or â—o be done by his Elect For by one Offering he hath perfected for-ever them that are sanctified Heb. 10.14 ver 10. chap. 9.26 By one Offering That is by the Offering of himself by one Offering once offered once offered in the end of the World. This I say thine Advocate pleads When Satan brings in fresh Accusations for more Transgressions against the Law of God he forceth not Christ to shift his first Plea I say he puts him not to his Shifts at all For the Price once paid hath in it sufficient Value would God impute it to that end to take away the Sin of the whole World. There is a Man that hath Brethren he is rich and they are poor and this is the Case 'twixt Christ and us and the rich Brother goeth to his Father and saith thou art related to my Brethren with me and out of thy Store I pray thee let them have sufficient and for thy Satisfaction I will put into thy Hand the whole of what I have which perhaps is worth an hundred thousand Pounds by the Year and this other Sum I also give that they be not disinherited Now will not this last his poor Brethren to spend upon a good while But Christ's Worth can never be drawn dry Now set the Case again that some ill conditioned Man should take Notice that these poor Men live all upon the spend and Saints do so and should come to the good Man's House and complain to him of the spending of his Sons and that while their eldâ—r Brother stands by What do you think the elder Brother would reply if he was as good-natured as Christ Why he would say I have yet with my Father in store for my Brethren Wherefore then seekest thou to stop his hand As he is just he â—ust give them for their Conveniency yea and as â—or their Extravagancies I have satisfied for them so well that however he afflicteth them he will not disinherit them I hope you will read and hear this not like them that say let us do evil that Good may come but like those whom the Love of Christ constrains to be better however this is the Childrens Bread that which they have need of and without which they cannot live and they must have it tho Satan should put Pins into it therewith to choak the Dogs And for the further clearing of this I will present you with these few Considerations 1. Those that are most sanctified have yet a Body of Sin and Death in them Rom. 7.24 and so also it will be while they continue in this World. 2. This Body of Sin strives to break out and will break out to the polluting of the Conversation if Saints be not the more watchful Chap. 6.12 yea it has broke out in most sad Manner and that in the strongest Saints Gal. 5.17 3. Christ offereth no new Sacrifice for the Salvation of these his People for being raised from the Dead he dies no more Rom 6.9 So then if Saints sin they must be saved if saved at all by Virtue of the Offering already offered and if so then all Christ's Pleas as an Advocate are grounded upon that one Offering which before as a Priest he presented God with for the taking away of Sin. So then Christians live upon this old Stock their Transgressions are forgiven for the Sake of the Worth that yet God finds in the Offering that Christ hath offered And all Christ's Pleadings as an Advocate are grounded upon the Sufficiency and Worth of that one Sacrifice I mean all his Pleadings with his Father as to the Charge which the Accuser brings in against them For tho thou art a Man of Infirmity and so incident to nothing as to stumble and fall if Grace doth not prevent and it always preventeth not yet the Value and Worth of the Price that was once paid for thee is not yet worn out and Christ as an Advocate still pleadeth as Occasion is given that with Success to thy Salvation And this Privilege they have who indeed have Christ for their Advocate And I put it here in the first Place because all other do depend upon it Priv. 2. Secondly Thine Advocate as he pleadeth a Price already paid so and therefore he pleads for himself as for thee We are all concerned in one bottom if he sinks we sink if we sink he sinks Give me leave to make out my meaning 1. Christ pleads the Value and Virtue of the Price of his Blood and Sacrifice for us And admit of this horrible Supposition a little for Argument's Sake That tho Christ pleads the Worth of what as Priest he offereth yet the Soul for whom he so pleads perishes eternally Now where lieth the Fault In Sin you say true but it is because there was more Virtue in Sin to damn than there was in the Blood pleaded by Christ to save For he pleaded his Merit he put it into the Balance against Sin but Sin hath weighed down the Soul of the Sinner to Hell notwithstanding the Weight of Merit that he did put in against it Now what 's the Result but that the Advocate goes down as well as we we to Hell and he in Esteem Wherefore I say he is concerned with us his Credit his Honour his Glory and Renown flies all away if those for whom he pleads as an Advocate perish for want of Worth in his Sacrifice pleaded But shall this ever be said of Christ or will it be found that any for whom Christ as Advocate pleads yet perish for want of Worth in the Price or of Neglect in the Advocate to plead it No no himself is concerned and that as to his own Reputation and Honour and as to the Value and Virtue of his Blood nor will he lose these for want of pleading for them concerned in this Office. 2. I argue again Christ as Advocate must needs be concerned in his Plea for that every one for whose Salvation he advocates is his own So then if he loses he loses his own his Substance Inheritance
This Advocate is ours 1. Study it with reference to its Peculiarity It is for the Children and no body else For the Children little and great This is Childrens Bread this is a mess for Benjamin This is to be eaten in the holy Place Children use to make much of that which by way of speciality is by their Relations bestowed on them And Naboth said to Ahab the Lord forbid it me that I should give tâ—e Inheritance of my Father to thee 1 Kin. 21 3. no truly will I not Why so because it was my Father's Gift not in common to all but to me in special Secondly Study this Office in the Nature of it For therein lies the Excellency of any thing even in the Nature of it Wrong thoughts of this or that abuses it and takes its natural Glory from it take heed therefore of misapprehending while thou art seeking to apprehend Christ as thy Advocate Men judge of Christ's Offices while they are at too great a distance from them but Let them come near says God then let them speak Isa. 41.1 or as Elihu said to his Friends when he had seen them judge amiss Let us chuse to us Judgment let us know among our selves what is good Job 34.4 So say I study to know rightly to know the Advocate-Office of Jesus Christ. It is one of the easiest things in the World to miss of the Nature while we speak of the Name and Offices of Jesus Christ. Wherefore look to it that thou study the Nature of the Office of his Advocateship Of his Avocateship for for so you ought to consider it there is an Advocate for not against the Children of God Jesus Christ the righteous Thirdly Study this Office with reference to its efficacy and prevalency Job says After my Words they spake not again Job 29.22 And when Christ stands up to plead all must keep silence before him True Satan had the first Word but Christ the last in the Business of Joshua and such a last as brought the poor Man off well tho cloathed with filthy Garments Zech. 3. Satan must be speechless after a Plea of our Advocate how rampant soever he is afore or as Elihu has it He was amazed he answered no more he left off speaking Shall he that speaks in Righteousness give place and he who has nothing but Envy and Deceit be admitted to stand his Ground Behold the Angels cover their Faces when they speak of his Glory How then shall not Satan bend before him In the Days of his Humiliation he made him cringe and creep how much more then now he is exalted to Glory to glory to be an Advocate an Advocate for his People If any Man sin we have an Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous Fourthly Study The Faithfulness of Châ—ist in his Execution of this Office For he will not fail nor forsake them that have entertained him for their Advocate He will thorowly plead their Cause Jer. 50.34 Faithful and true is one of his Titles and you shall faithfully be served by him You may boldly commit your Cause unto him nor shall the badness of it make him fail or discourage him in his work for it is not the badness of a Cause that can hinder him from prevailing because he hath wherewith to answer for all thy Sins and a new Law to plead by through which he will make thee a Conqueror He is also for sticking to a Man to the End if he once engages for him Joh. 13.1 2. He will threaten and love he will chastise and love he will kill and love and thou shalt find it so And he will make this appear at the last and Satan knows it is so now for he finds the Power of his Repulses while he pleadeth for us at the Bar against him And all this is in very Faithfulness Fifthly Study also the need that thou hasâ— of a Share in the Execution of the Advocateship of Jesus Christ. Christians find that they have need of washing in the Blood of Christ and that they have need of being cloathed with the Righteousness of Christ They also find that they have need that Christ shoulâ— make Intercession for them and that by hiâ— of Necessity they must approach God anâ— present their Prayers and Services to him But they do not so well see that they neeâ— that Christ should also be their Advocatâ— And the Reason thereof is this They forgeâ— that their Adversary makes it his Business tâ— accuse them before the Throne of God the consider not the long Scrowls and many Crimes wherewith he chargeth them in the Presence of the Angels of God I say this is the Cause that the Advocateship of Christ is so little considered in the Churches Yea many that have been relieved by that Office of his have not understood what thereby he has done for them But perhaps this is to be kept from many till they come to behold his Face and until all things shall be revealed that Christ might have Glory given him in the next World for doing of that for them which they so little thought of in this But do not thou be content with this Ignorance because the Knowledge of his advocating of it for thee will yield thee present Relief Study therefore thine own Weakness the Holiness of the Judge the badness of thy Cause the Subtilty Malice and Rage of thine Enemy and be assured that when-ever thou sinnest by and by thou art for it accused before God at his Judgment-Seat These things will as it were by way of Necessity instil into thy Heart the need that thou hast of an Advocate and will make thee look as to the Blood and Righteousness of Jesus Christ to justifie thee so to Christ as an Advocate to plead thy Cause as did holy Job in his Distresses Job 16.21 1 Vse 3. Thirdly Is Christ Jesus not only a Priest of and a King over but an Advocate for his People Let this make us stand and wonder and be amazed at his Humiliation and Condescention We read of his Humiliation on Earth when he put himself into our Flesh took upon him our Sins And made them as his own unto Condemnation and Death And to be an Advocate is an Office reproachful to the malicious if any Man be such an one for those that are base and unworthy Yea and the higher and more honourable the Person is that pleads for such the more he humbles himself The Word doth often in effect account him now in Heaven as a Servant for us and Acts of Service are Acts of Condescention And I am sure some Acts of Service have more of that in them than some And I think when all things are considered that Christ neither doth nor can do any thing for us there of a more condescending Nature than to become our Advocate True he glories in it but that doth not shew that the work is excellent in it self It is also one of his Titles of