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C H R I S T By J O H N.B U N Y A N. Published by E. Chandler, J. Wilson, and C. Doe, 1692. Published four years after John Bunyan's death. |
[II. OF THE BENEFITS OF CHRIST'S INTERCESSION.]
ECOND.] And thus have I spoken to the first thing—to wit, of the
intercession of Christ; and now I come more particularly to speak to the second,
THE BENEFITS OF HIS INTERCESSION; namely, that we are saved thereby. Wherefore he
is able also to save them, seeing he maketh intercession for them. 'He is able to
save them to the uttermost.'
In my handling of this head, I must show you, First, What the apostle means here
by 'save'—'Wherefore he is able to save.' Second, What he means here by saving to
the 'uttermost'—'He is able to save to the uttermost.' Third, And then, thirdly,
we shall do as we did in the foregoing—to wit, gather some inferences from the whole,
and speak to them.
First, What doth the apostle mean here by 'save'—'He is able to save them.'
To 'save' may be taken two ways. In the general, I know it may be taken many ways,
for there are many salvations that we enjoy; yea, that we never knew of, nor can
know, until we come thither, where all secret things shall be seen, and where that
which has been done in darkness shall be proclaimed upon the housetops. But I say
there are two ways that this word may be taken—1. To save in a way of justification.
2. Or to save in a way of preservation. Now, Christ saves both these ways. But which
of these, or whether both of them are intended in this place, of that I shall tell
you my thoughts anon; meanwhile, I will show you,
1. What it is to be saved in the first sense, [namely, in a way of justification,]
and also how that is brought to pass.
To be saved is to be delivered from guilt of sin that is by the law, as it is the
ministration of death and condemnation; or, to be set free therefrom before God.
This is to be saved; for he that is not set free therefrom, whatever he may think
of himself, or whatever others may think concerning him, he is a condemned man. It
saith not, he shall be, but, he is condemned already. (John 3:18) The reason is,
for that he has deserved the sentence of the ministration of condemnation, which
is the law. Yea, that law has already arraigned, accused, and condemned him before
God, for that it hath found him guilty of sin. Now he that is set free from this,
or, as the phrase is, 'being made free from sin,' (Rom 6:22); that is, from the imputation
of guilt, there can, to him, be no condemnation, no condemnation to hell fire; but
the person thus made free may properly be said to be saved. Wherefore, as sometimes
it saith, we shall be saved, respecting saving in the second sense, or the utmost
completing of salvation; so sometimes it saith, we are saved, as respecting our being
already secured from guilt, and so from condemnation to hell for sin, and so set
safe, and quit from the second death before God. (1 Cor 1:18, Eph 2:5)
Now, saving thus comes to us by what Christ did for us in this world, by what Christ
did for us as suffering for us. I say, it comes to us thus; that is, it comes to
us by grace through the redemption that is in Christ. And thus to be saved is called
justification, justification to life, because one thus saved is, as I said, acquitted
from guilt, and that everlasting damnation to which for sin he had made himself obnoxious
by the law. (1 Cor 15:1-4, Rom 5:8-10)
Hence we are said to be saved by his death, justified by his blood, and reconciled
to God by the death of his Son; all which must respect his offering of himself on
the day he died, and not his improving of his so dying in a way of intercession,
because in the same place the apostle reserveth a second, or an additional salvation,
and applieth that to his intercession, 'Much more then, being now,' or already, 'justified
by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him'; that is, through what he
will further do for us. 'For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God
by the death of his son, much more, being reconciled,' that is, by his death, 'we
shall be saved by his life,' his intercession, which he ever liveth to complete.
(verse 9,10)
See here, we are said to be justified, reconciled already, and therefore we shall
be saved, justified by his blood and death, and saved through him by his life.
2. Now the saving intended in the text is saving in this second sense; that is, a
saving of us by preserving us, by delivering of us from all those hazards that we
run betwixt our state of justification and our state of glorification. Yea, such
a saving of us as we that are justified need to bring us into glory. Therefore,
When he saith he is able to save, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession, he
addeth saving to saving; saving by his life to saving by his death; saving by his
improving of his blood to saving by his spilling of his blood. He gave himself a
ransom for us, and now improves that gift in the presence of God by way of intercession.
For, as I have hinted already, the high priests under the law took the blood of the
sacrifices that were offered for sin, and brought it within the veil, and there sprinkled
it before and upon the mercy-seat, and by it made intercession for the people to
an additional way of saving them; the sum of which Paul thus applies to Christ when
he saith, 'He can save, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession.'
That also in the Romans is clear to this purpose, 'Who is he that condemneth? It
is Christ that died.' (Rom 8:31-39) That is, who is he that shall lay anything to
the charge of God's elect to condemnation to hell, since Christ has taken away the
curse by his death from before God? Then he adds, that there is nothing that shall
yet happen to us, shall destroy us, since Christ also liveth to make intercession
for us. 'Who shall condemn? It is Christ that died; yea, rather, that is risen again,
who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.'
Christ, then, by his death saveth us as we are sinners, enemies, and in a state of
condemnation by sin; and Christ by his life saveth us as considered justified, and
reconciled to God by his blood. So, then, we have salvation from that condemnation
that sin had brought us unto, and salvation from those ruins that all the enemies
of our souls would yet bring us unto, but cannot; for the intercession of Christ
preventeth. [4] (Rom 6:7-10)
Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law. Whatever the law can take hold
of to curse us for, that Christ has redeemed us from, by being made a curse for us.
But this curse that Christ was made for us, must be confined to his sufferings, not
to his exaltation, and, consequently, not to his intercession, for Christ is made
no curse but when he suffered; not in his intercession: so then, as he died he took
away the curse, and sin that was the cause thereof, by the sacrifice of himself,
(Gal 3:13), and by his life, his intercession, he saveth us from all those things
that attempt to bring us into that condemnation again.
The salvation, then, that we have by the intercession of Christ, as was said—I speak
now of them that are capable of receiving comfort and relief by this doctrine—is
salvation that follows upon, or that comes after, justification. We that are saved
as to justification of life, need yet to be saved with that that preserveth to glory;
for though by the death of Christ we are saved from the curse of the law, yet attempts
are made by many that we may be kept from the glory that justified persons are designed
for; and from these we are saved by his intercession.
A man, then, that must be eternally saved is to be considered, (a.) As an heir of
wrath. (b.) As an heir of God. An heir of wrath he is in himself by sin; an heir
of God he is by grace through Christ. (Eph 2:3, Gal 4:7) Now, as an heir of wrath
he is redeemed, and as an heir of God he is preserved; as an heir of wrath he is
redeemed by blood, and as an heir of God he is preserved by this intercession. Christ
by his death, then, puts me, I being reconciled to God thereby, into a justified
state, and God accepts me to grace and favour through him. But this doth not hinder
but that, all this notwithstanding, there re, that would frustrate me of the end
to which I am designed by this reconciliation to God, by redemption through grace;
and from the accomplishing of this design I am saved by the blessed intercession
of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Object. 1. Perhaps some may say, we are not saved from all punishment of sin by the
death of Christ; and if so, so not from all danger of damnation by the intercession
of Christ.
Answ. We are saved from all punishment in hell fire by the death of Christ. Jesus
has 'delivered us from the wrath to come.' (1 Thess 1:10) So that as to this great
punishment, God for his sake has forgiven us all trespasses. (Col 2:13) But we being
translated from being slaves to Satan to be sons of God, God reserveth yet this liberty
in his hand to chastise us if we offend, as a father chastiseth his son. (Deut 8:5)
But this chastisement is not in legal wrath, but in fatherly affection; not to destroy
us, but that still we might be made to get advantage thereby, even be made partakers
of his holiness. This is, that we might 'not be condemned with the world.' (Heb 12:5-11,
1 Cor 11:32) As to the second part of the objection; there do, as we say, many things
happen betwixt or between the cup and the lip; many things attempt to overthrow the
work of God, and to cause that we should perish through our weakness, notwithstanding
the price that hath by Christ been paid for us. But what saith the Scripture? 'Who
shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution,
or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are
killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all
these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded,
that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things
present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall
be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.'
(Rom 8:35-39)
Thus the apostle reckoneth up all the disadvantages that a justified person is incident
to in this life, and by way of challenge declares, that not any one of them, nor
all together, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, that is towards
us by Christ, his death, and his intercession.
Object. 2. It may be further objected, that the apostle doth here leave out sin,
unto which we know the saints are subject, after justification. And sin of itself,
we need no other enemies, is of that nature as to destroy the whole world.
Answ. Sin is sin, in the nature of sin, wherever it is found. But sin as to the damning
effects thereof is taken away from them unto whom righteousness is imputed for justification.
Nor shall any or all the things aforementioned, though there is a tendency in every
one of them to drive us unto sin, drown us, through it, in perdition and destruction.
I am persuaded, says Paul, they shall never be able to do that. The apostle, therefore,
doth implicitly, though to expressly, challenge sin, yea, sin by all its advantages;
and then glorieth in the love of God in Christ Jesus, from which he concludeth it
shall never separate the justified. Besides, it would now have been needless to have
expressly here put in sin by itself, seeing before, he had argued that those he speaks
of were freely justified therefrom.
One word more before I go to the second head. The Father, as I told you, has reserved
to himself a liberty to chastise his sons, to wit, with temporal chastisements, if
they offend. This still abideth to us, notwithstanding God's grace, Christ's death,
or blessed intercession. And this punishment is so surely entailed to the transgressions
that we who believe shall commit, that it is impossible that we should be utterly
freed therefrom; insomuch that the apostle positively concludeth them to be bastards,
what pretences to sonship soever they have, that are not, for sin, partakers of fatherly
chastisements.
For the reversing of this punishment it is that we should pray, if perhaps God will
remit it, when we are taught to say, 'Our Father, forgive us our trespasses.' And
he that admits of any other sense as to this petition, derogates from the death of
Christ, or faith, or both. For either he concludes that for some of his sins Christ
did not die, or that he is bound to believe that God, though he did, has not yet,
nor will forgive them, till from the petitioner some legal work be done; forgive
us, as we forgive them that trespass against us. (Matt 6:14,15) But now, apply this
to temporal punishments, and then it is true that God has reserved a liberty in his
hand to punish even the sins of his people upon them; yea, and will not pardon their
sin, as to the remitting of such punishment, unless some good work by them be done;
'If ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.'
(Matt 6:15, 18:28-35)
And this is the cause why some that belong to God are yet so under the afflicting
hand of God; they have sinned, and God, who is their Father, punisheth; yea, and
this is the reason why some who are dear to God have this kind of punishment never
forgiven, but it abides with them to their lives' end, goes with them to the day
of their death, yea, is the very cause of their death. By this punishment they are
cut off out of the land of the living. But all this is that they might 'not be condemned
with the world.' (1 Cor 11:32)
Christ died not to save from this punishment; Christ intercedes not to save from
this punishment. Nothing but a good life will save from this punishment; nor always
that either.
The hidings of God's face, the harshness of his providences, the severe and sharp
chastisements that ofttimes overtake the very spirits of his people, plainly show
that Christ died not to save from temporal punishments, prays not to save from temporal
punishments—that is, absolutely. God has reserved a power to punish, with temporal
punishments, the best and dearest of his people, if need be.[5] And sometimes he remits
them, sometimes not, even as it pleases him. I come now to the second thing.
[Christ saves to the uttermost.]
Second, I shall now show you something of what it is for Christ, by his intercession,
to save to the 'uttermost.' 'He is able to save them to the uttermost.'
This is a great expression, and carrrieth with it much. 'Uttermost' signifieth to
the outside, to the end, to the last, to the furthest part. And it hath respect both
to persons and things. (Gen 49:26, Deut 30:4, Matt 5:26, Mark 13:27, Luke 15)
1. To persons. Some persons are in their own apprehensions even further from Christ
than anybody else; afar off, a great way off, yet a-coming, as the prodigal was.
Now, these many times are exceedingly afraid; the sight of that distance that they
think is betwixt Christ and them makes them afraid. As it is said in another case,
'They that dwell in the uttermost parts are afraid at thy tokens.' (Psa 65:8) So
these are afraid they shall not speed, not obtain that for which they come to God.
But the text says, He is able to save to the uttermost, to the very hindermost, them
that come to God by him.
Two sorts of men seem to be far, very far from God. (1.) The town sinner. (2.) The
great backslider. (Neh 1:9) But both these, if they come, he is able to save to the
uttermost. He is able to save them from all those dangers that they fear will prevent
their obtaining of that grace and mercy they would have to help them in time of need.
The publicans and harlots enter into the kingdom of heaven.
2. As this text respecteth persons, so it respecteth things. There are some things
with which some are attended that are coming to God, by Christ, that make their coming
hard and very difficult.
(1.) There is a more than ordinary breaking up of the corruptions of their nature.
It seems as if all their lusts and vile passions of the flesh were become masters,
and might now do what they will with the soul. Yea, they take this man and toss and
tumble him like a ball in a large place. This man is not master of himself, of his
thoughts, nor of his passions—'His iniquities, like the wind, do carry him away.'
(Isa 64:6) He thinks to go forward, but this wind blows him backward; he laboureth
against this wind, but cannot find that he getteth ground; he takes what advantage
opportunity doth minister to him, but all he gets is to be beat out of heart, out
of breath, out of courage. He stands still, and pants, and gapeth as for life. 'I
opened my mouth, and panted,' said David, 'for I longed for thy commandments.' (Psa
119:131) He sets forward again, but has nothing but labour and sorrow.
(2.) Nay, to help forward his calamity, Satan [and his] angels will not be wanting,
both to trouble his head with the fumes of their stinking breath, nor to throw up
his heels in their dirty places— 'And as he was yet a-coming, the devil threw him
down and tare him.' (Luke 9:42) How many strange, hideous, and amazing blasphemies
have those, some of those, that are coming to Christ, had injected and fixed upon
their spirits against him. Nothing so common to such, as to have some hellish wish
or other against God they are coming to, and against Christ, by whom they would come
to him. These blasphemies are like those frogs that I have heard of, that will leap
up, and catch hold of, and hang by their claws. Now help, Lord; now, Lord Jesus,
what shall I do? Now, Son of David, have mercy upon me! I say, to say these words
is hard work for such an one. But he is able to save to the uttermost this comer
to God by him.
(3.) There are also the oppositions of sense and reason hard at work for the devil,
against the soul; the men of his own house are risen up against him. One's sense
and reason, one would think, should not fall in with the devil against ourselves,
and yet nothing more common, nothing more natural, than for our own sense and reason
to turn the unnatural, and are both against our God and us. And now it is hard coming
to God. Better can a man hear and deal with any objections against himself, than
with those that himself doth make against himself. They lie close, stick fast, speak
aloud, and will be heard; yea, will haunt and hunt him, as the devil doth some, in
every hole and corner. But come, man, come; for he is able to save to the uttermost!
(4.) Now guilt is the consequence and fruit of all this; and what so intolerable
a burden as guilt! They talk of the stones, and of the sands of the sea; but it is
guilt that breaks the heart with its burden. And Satan has the art of making the
uttermost of every sin; he can blow it up, make it swell, make every hair of its
head as big as a cedar. He can tell how to make it a heinous offence, and unpardonable
offence, an offence of that continuance, and committed against so much light, that,
says he, it is impossible it should ever be forgiven. But, soul, Christ is able to
save to the uttermost, he can 'do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think.'
(Eph 3:20)
(5.) Join to all this the rage and terror of men, which thing of itself is sufficient
to quash and break to pieces all desires to come to God by Christ; yea, and it doth
do so to thousands that are not willing to go to hell. Yet thou art kept, and made
to go panting on; a whole world of men, and devils, and sin, are not able to keep
thee from coming. But how comes it to pass that thou art so hearty, that thou settest
thy face against so much wind and weather? I dare say it arises not from thyself,
nor from any of thine enemies. This comes from God, though thou art not aware thereof;
and is obtained for thee by the intercession of the blessed Son of God, who is also
able to save thee to the uttermost, that comest to God by him.
(6.) And for a conclusion as to this, I will add, that there is much of the honour
of the Lord Jesus engaged as to the saving of the coming man to the uttermost: 'I
am glorified in them,' saith he. (John 17:10) He is exalted to be a Saviour. (Acts
5:31) And if the blessed One doth count it an exaltation to be a Saviour, surely
it is an exaltation to be a Saviour, and a great one. 'They shall cry unto the Lord
because of the oppressors, and he shall send them a Saviour, and a great one, and
he shall deliver them.' (Isa 19:20) If it is a glory to be a Saviour, a great Saviour,
then it is a glory for a Saviour, a great one, to save, and save, and save to the
uttermost— to the uttermost man, to the uttermost sin, to the uttermost temptation.
And hence it is that he saith again, speaking of the transgressions, sins, and iniquities
that he would pardon, that it should turn to him for 'a name of joy, a praise, and
an honour before all nations.' (Jer 33:9) He therefore counts it an honour to be
a great Saviour, to save men to the uttermost.
When Moses said, 'I beseech thee, show me thy glory,' the answer was, 'I will make
all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before
thee.' (Exo 33:18,19) And when he came indeed to make proclamation, then he proclaimed,
'The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness
and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and
sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty.' (Exo 34:6,7) That will by no means
clear them that will not come to me that they may be saved.
See here, if it is not by himself accounted his glory to make his goodness, all his
goodness, pass before us. And how can that be, if he saveth not to the uttermost
them that come unto God by him? For goodness is by us noways seen but by those acts
by which it expresseth itself to be so. And, I am sure, to save, to save to the uttermost,
is one of the most eminent expressions by which we understand it is great goodness.
I know goodness has many ways to express itself to be what it is to the world; but
then it expresseth its greatness when it pardons and saves, when it pardons and saves
to the uttermost. My goodness, says Christ, extends not itself to my Father, but
to my saints. (Psa 16:2,3) My Father has no need of my goodness, but my saints have,
and therefore it shall reach forth itself for their help, in whom is all my delight.
And, 'Oh how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee;
which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men'! (Psa
31:19) It is therefore that which tendeth to get Christ a name, a fame, and glory,
to be able to save to the uttermost them that come to God by him.
[In Christ's ability to save, lieth our safety.]
But some may say, What is the meaning of this word able? 'Wherefore he is able to
save.' He is able to save the uttermost. How comes it to pass that his power to save
is rather put in than his willingness; for willingness, saith the soul, would better
have pleased me. I will speak two or three words to this question. And,
First, By this word able is suggested to us the sufficiency of his merit, the great
worthiness of his merit; for, as Intercessor, he sticks fast by his merit; all his
petitions, prayers, or supplications are grounded upon the worthiness of his person
as Mediator, and on the validity of his offering as priest. This is the more clear,
if you consider the reason why those priests and sacrifices under the law could not
make the worshippers perfect. It was, I say, because there wanted in them worthiness
and merit in their sacrifices. But this man, when he came and offered his sacrifice,
he did by that one act 'perfect for ever them that are sanctified,' or set apart
for glory. 'But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins, for ever sat
down on the right hand of God.' (Heb 10:1-12)
When Moses prayed for the people of Israel, thus he said, 'And now, I beseech thee,
let the power of my Lord be great, according as thou hast spoken.' But what had he
spoken? 'The Lord is long- suffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and
transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty - Pardon, I beseech thee, the
iniquity of this people according unto the greatness of thy mercy, and as thou hast
forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.' (Num 14:17-19)
Second, Has he but power, we know he is willing, else he would not have promised;
it is also his glory to pardon and save. So, then, in his ability lies our safety.
What if he were never so willing, if he were not of ability sufficient, what would
his willingness do? But he has showed, as I said, his willingness by promising: 'Him
that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.' (John 6:37) So that now our comfort
lies in his power, in that he is able to make good his word. (Rom 4:20,21) And this
also will then be seen, when he hath saved them that come to God by him, when he
hath saved them to the uttermost; not to the uttermost of his ability, but to the
uttermost of our necessity; for to the uttermost of his ability I believe he will
never be put to it to save his church; not for that he is loath so to save, but because
there is no need so to save; he shall not need to put out all his power, and to press
the utmost of his merit for the saving of his church. Alas! there is sufficiency
of merit in him to save a thousand times as many more as are like to be saved by
him; 'he is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think.'
Measure not, therefore, what he can do by what he has, doth, or will do; neither
do thou interpret this word, to the uttermost, as if it related to the uttermost
of his ability, but rather as it relateth, for so it doth indeed, to the greatness
of thy necessity. For as he is able to save thee, though thy condition be, as it
may be supposed to be, the worst that ever man was in that was saved, so he is able
to save thee, though thy condition were ten times worse than it is.
What! shall not the worthiness of the Son of God be sufficient to save from the sin
of man? or shall the sin of the world be of that weight to destroy, that it shall
put Christ Jesus to the uttermost of the worth of his person and merit to save therefrom?
I believe it is blasphemy to think so. We can easily imagine that he can save all
the world—that is, that he is of ability to do it; but we cannot imagine that he
can do no more than we can think he can. But our imagination and thoughts set no
bound to his ability. 'He is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask
or think.' But what that is, I say, no man can think, no man can imagine. So, then,
Jesus Christ can do more than ever any man thought he could do as to saving; he can
do we know not what. This, therefore, should encourage comers to come to him; and
them that come, to hope. This, I say, should encourage them to let out, to lengthen,
and heighten their thoughts by the word, to the uttermost, seeing he can 'save to
the uttermost them that come to God by him.'[6]
[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 that are justified by Christ's blood such as have need yet to be saved
by his intercession? Then from hence 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 yet 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 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 justifieth us, which is the
righteousness of Christ. Yea, and to say so would conclude that wrong judgment proceedeth
from him that imputeth that righteousness to us to justification, since an imperfect
thing is imputed to us for justification. But far be it from any that believe that
God is true to imagine such a thing; all his works are perfect, there is nothing
wanting in them as to the present design.
[Quest.] But what then do we mean when we say, justification will stand with a state
of imperfection?
Answ. Why, I mean that justified men are yet sinners in themselves, are yet full
of imperfections; yea, 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 yet sinners,
we are justified by the blood of Christ. Hence, again, it is said, 'he justifieth
the ungodly.' (Rom 4:5, 5:8,9) Justification, then, only covereth our sin from the
sight of God; it maketh 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.
[WHY THE JUSTIFIED NEED AN INTERCESSOR.]
And this is the reason, or one reason, why they that are justified have need of 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 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 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 for the obtaining
a little favour 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 a natural propensity to things
of the flesh. They feel a desire to go beyond bounds both at board, and bed, and
bodily exercise, and in all lawful recreation.
(5.) They feel in themselves an aptness to take the advantage of using of things
that are lawful, 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 casting 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 needeth to be saved by the intercession of Christ from the bad fruit
that that imperfection yields.
Justifying righteousness is accompanied with 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
good will; but, I say, they come when justification comes. (Rom 9) And though they
are not so easily discerned at the first, they show forth themselves afterwards.
But I say, how many soever they are, and how fast soever they grow, their utmost
arrivement 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 because of their
own imperfections, and also because of the oppositions that they meet with from our
flesh.
(1.) Faith, which is the root-grace, the grand grace, its shortness is sufficiently
manifest by its shortness of apprehension of things pertaining to 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 purifyings of the heart, though indeed it doth what it doth in reality,
yet how short is it of doing of it thoroughly? Oftentimes, were it not for supplies
by virtue of the intercession of Christ, faith would fail of performing 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 of it? Also all our fear of men, and
fears of death, and fears of judgment, they 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 saints that are rich, who have got the poor and beggarly
art of complimenting? For the more compliment, 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 are 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.[7] 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.
[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 be imperfect,
how can our duties but 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 ofttimes,
it is to be feared, we ask for that with out mouth that we care not whether we have
or no. Where is the man that pursues with all his might what but now he seemed to
ask for with all his heart? Prayer is become a shell, a piece of formality, a very
empty thing, as to the spirit and life of prayer at this day. I speak now of the
prayers of the godly. I once met with a poor woman that, in the greatest of her distresses,
told me she did use to rise in the night, in cold weather, and pray to
God, while she sweat with fears of the loss of her prayers and desires that her soul
might be saved. I have heard of many that have played, but of few that have prayed,
till they have sweat, by reason of their wrestling 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 a succour 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 that keep shops
can briskly attend upon a twopenny customer; but when they come themselves to God's
market, they spend their time too much in letting their thoughts to wander from God's
commandments, or in a nasty drowsy way. The heads, also, 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, produce none of the sermon 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.
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 kind of iniquities?
2. Are those that are justified by the blood of Christ such, after that, as have
need also of saving by Christ's intercession? From hence, then, we may infer, that
as sin, so Satan will not give over from 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) There are two things that
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 hath 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,[8] 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, yet 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 dishonour 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 of us, he
can grieve us, afflict us, put us to pain, fright 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, have
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 helps from the
intercession of Christ, let us have a 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 that are justified by the blood of Christ such as, after that, have
need of being 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 God's discipline
of his church a negligent and careless discipline; for, though those that believe
already have also an intercessor, yet God, to show his detestation against sin, doth
often make them feel to purpose 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 be utter strangers
as to this; but those that are his own indeed do know it is otherwise.[9]
'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 very strict 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, I say, if it might be for their good, and for the better regulating of
their understandings. But whether they obtain my wish or no, 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 offences.
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)
5. Are those that are already justified by the blood of Christ yet such as have need
of 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 fastly, so he shall bring forth the headstones with shoutings, and
we shall cry, Grace, grace, at the last, salvation only belongeth 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 savour. (Rev 7:12-14, 8:3,4)
6. Are those that are already justified by the blood of Christ, such as do still
stand in need of being 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 for ever. 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.
7. Are those that are already justified by the blood of Christ such as do still stand
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 have need
of betwixt 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 completing 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 unweldable mountain and rock,[10] 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 raising of thee when thou wast 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 most easy part, so the most comfortable, and that part
which will more immediately issue in his glory, and therefore he will mind it.
(5.) That which is behind is also more safe in his hand than if it were in thine
own; he is wise, he is powerful, he is faithful, and therefore will manage that part
that is lacking to our salvation well, until he has completed it. It is his love
to thee that has made him that 'he putteth 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 is able to save to the uttermost. And this leads me to the third particular.
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