sore but he hath not given me over unto Death Psal. 118.18 Satan's Plea was that the Lord would give David over to his Will and to the Tyranny of Death No says our Advocate that must not be to do so would be an Affront to the Covenant under which Grace has put them that would be to deal with them by a Covenant of Works under which they arâ— not There is a Rod for Children anâ— Stripes for those of them that transgress this Rod is in the Hand of a Father and musâ— be used according to the Law of that Relation not for the Destruction but Correction oâ— the Children Not to satisfie the Rage of Satan but to vindicate the Holiness of my Father Not to drive them further from but to bring them nearer to their God. But Fifthly The Necessity of the Advocateship of Jesus Christ is also manifest in this For that there is need of one to plead the efficacy of old Titles to our eternal Inheritance when our Interest thereunto seems questionable by reason of new Transgressions That God's People may by their new and repeated Sins as to Reason at least indanger their Interest in the eternal Inheritance is manifest by such Groanings of theirs as these Why dost thou cast me off Psal. 43.2 Psal. 51.11 Cast me not away fâ—om thy Presence Psal. 60.1 and O God why hast thou cast us off forever Psal. 74.1 Yet I find in the book of Leviticus that tho any of the children of Israel should have sold morgaged or made away with their Inheritance they did not thereby utterly make void their title to an Interest therein but it should again return to them and they again enjoy the Possession of it in the Year of Jubilee In the Year of Jubilee saith God you shall return every Man to his Possession The Land shall not be sold for ever not be quite cut off for the Land is mine for ye are Strangers and Sojourners with me In all the Land of your Possession you shall grant a Redemption for the Land Levit. 25.23 24 25. The Man in Israel that by waxing Poor did sell his Land in Canaan was surely a type of the Christian who by Sin and Decays in Grace has forfeited his Place and Inheritance in Heaven But as the ceremonial Law provided that the poor Man in Canaan should not by his Poverty lose his Portion in Canaan forever but that it should return to him in the Year of Jubilee So the Law of Grace has provided that the Children shall not for their Sin lose their Inheritance in Heaven forever but that it shall return to them in the World to come the last Jubilee or Day of Judgment For then They are not to be condemned with the World 1 Cor. 11.32 All therefore that happeneth in this Case is They may live without the Comfort of it here as he that had sold his House in Canaan might live without the Enjoyment of it till the Jubilee They may also seem to come short of it when they die As he in Canaan did that deceased before the Year of Jubilee But as certainly as he that died in Cannan before the Jubilee did yet receive again his Inheritance by the Hand oâ— his relative Surviver when the Jubilee came so certainly shall he that dieth and thaâ— seemeth in his dying to come short of the Celestial Inheritance now be yet admitted at his rising again to the Re-possession of his old Inheritance at the Day of Judgment But here is now Room for a Caviller to object and to plead against the Children saying They have forfeited their Part of Paradise by their Sin what Right then shall they have to the Kingdom of Heaven Now let the Lord stand up to plead for he is Advocate for the Children Yea let them plead the Sufficiency of their first Title to the Kingdom and that it is not their doings that can sell the Land forever The Reason why the Children of Israel could not sell the Land forever was because the Lord their Head reserved to himself a Right therein The Land shall not be sold forever for the Land is mine Suppose two or three Children have a lawful Title to such an Estate but they are all profuse and prodigal but there is a Brother also that has by Law a chief Right to the same Estate This Brother he may hinder the Estate from being sold forever because 't is also his Inheritance and he may when the limited time that his Brethren had sold their share therein is out if he will restore it to them again And in the mean time if any that are unjust should go about utterly and forever to deprive his Brethren he may stand up and plead for them that in Law the Land cannot be sold forever for that it is his as well as theirs he being resolved not to part with his Right O my Brethren Christ will not part with his Right of the Inheritance unto which you are also born Your Profuseness and Prodigality shall not make him let go his hold that he hath for you of Heaven nor can you according to Law sell the Land forever since 't is his and he hath the principal and chief Title thereto This also giveth him Ground to stand up to plead for you against all those that would hold the Kingdom from you forever For let Satan say what he can against you yet Christ can say the Land is mine And consequently that his Brethren could not sell it Yes says Satan if the Inheritance be devided O but says Christ The Land is undivided no Man has his part set out and turned over to himself Besides my Brethren yet are under Age and I am made their Guardian They have not Power to sell the Land forever the Land is mine also my Father has made me Feoffee in trâ—st for my Brethren that they may have what is allotted them when they are all come to a perfect Man to the Measure of the Stature of the Fulness of Christ Eph. 4.12 13. and not before and I will reserve it for them till then and thus to do is the Will of my Father the Law of the Judge and also my unchangeable Resolution And what can Satan say against this Plea Can he prove that Christ has no Interest in the Saints Inheritance Can he prove that we are at Age or that our several Parts of the Heavenly House is already delivered into our own Hands and is in our own Power And if he goes about to do this is not the Law of the Land against him Doth it not say that our Advocate is Lord of all Acts 10.36 that the Kingdom is Christ's that it is laid up in Heaven for us Eph. 5.5 Col. 1.5 Yâ—a that the Inheritance which is incorruptible undefiled and that fadeth not away is reserved in Heaven for us who are kept by the Power of God through Faith unto Salvation 1 Pet. 1.3 4 5. Thus therefore is our old Title to
Thus If any Man sin we have an Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous But Fifthly As Christ as Advocate pleadeth for us against Satan his Father's Interest in us and his own and pleadeth also what Right he has to dispose of the Kingdom of Heaven So he pleadeth against this Enemy that Malice and Enmity that is in him and upon which chiefly his Charge against us is grounded to the Confusion of his Face This is evident from the title that our Advocate bestows upon him while he pleads for us against him The Lord rebuke thee O Satan O Enemy saith he For Satan is an Enemy and this Name given him signifies so much And Lawyers in their Pleas can make a great Matter of such a Circumstance as this Saying My Lord we can prove that what is now pleaded against the Prisoner at the Bar is of meer Malice and Haâ—red that has also of a long time lain burning and raging in his Enemy'â— Breast against him This I say will greatly weaken the Plea and Accusation of an Enemy But says Jesus Christ Father here is a Plea brought in against my Joshua that cloaths him with filthy Garments But it is brought in against him by an Enemy by an Enemy in the Supeâ—lative or highest Degree One that hates Goodness worse than he and that loveth Wickedness more than the Man against whom at this time he has brought such an heinous Charge Then leaving with the father the Value of his Blood for the Accused he turneth him to the Accuser and pleads against him as an Enemy O Satan Thou that accusest my Spouse my Love my Members art Satan an Enemy But it will be Objected That the things charged are true Grant it Yet what Law takes Notice of the Plea of one who doth professedly act as an Enemy because 't is not done of Love to Truth and Justice and Righteousness nor intended for the Honour of the King nor for the good of the Prosecuted but to gratifie Malice and Rage and meerly to kill and destroy There is therefore a great deal of Force and Strength in an Advocate â—s pleading of such a Circumstances against an Accuser Specially when the Crimes now charged are those and only those for which the Law in the due execution of it has been satisfied before wherefore now a Lawyer has double and treble ground of Matter to plead for his Client against his Enemy And this Advantage against him has Jesus Christ. Besides 't is well known that Satan as to us is the original Cause of those very Crimes for which he accuses us at the Bar of God's Tribunal Not to say any thing of how he cometh to us sollicites us tempts us flatters us and always in a manner lies at us to do those wicked things for which he so hotly pursues us to the Bar of the Judgment of God. For tho 't is not meet for us thus to plead to wit laying that Fault upon Satan but rather upon our selves yet our Advocate will do it and make work of it too before God. Simon Simon Satan has desired to have thee that he might sift thee as Wheat but I have pray'd for thee that thy Faith fail not Luk. 22.31.32 He maketh here mention of Satan's Desires by way of Advantage against him and doubtless so he did in his Prayer with God for Peter's Preservation And what he did here while on Earth as a Saviour in general that he doth now in Heaven as a Priest and an Advocate in special I will further suppose that which may be supposed and that which is suitable to our Purpose Suppose therefore that a Father that has a Child whom he loveth but the Child has not half that Wit that some of the Family hath and I am sure that we have less Wit than Angels and suppose also that some bad minded Neighbour by tampering with tempting of and by unwearied Sollicitations should prevail with this Child to steal something out of his Father's House or Grounds and give it unto him And this he doth on purpose to set the Father against the Child And suppose again that it comes to the Fathers Knowledge that the Child through the Allurements of such an one has done so and so against his Father Will he therefore disinherit this Child Yea suppose again that he that did tempt this Child to steal should be the first that should come to accuse this Child to its Father for so doing would the Father take Notice of the Accusation of such an one No verily we that are evil can do better than so How then should we think That the God of Heaven should do such a thing since also we have a Brother that is wise and that will and can plead the very Malice of our Enemy that doth to us all these things against him for our Advantage I say this is the Sum of this fifth Plea of Christ our Advocate against Satan O Satan says he Thou art an Enemy to my People thou pleadest not out of Love to Righteousness nor to reform But to destroy my Beloved and Inheritance The Charge wherewith thou chargest my People is thine own Joh. 8.44 not only as to a matter of Charge but the things that thou accusest them of are thine Thine in the Nature of them Also thou hast tempted allured flattered and daily laboured with them to do that for which now thou so willingly wouldest have them destroyed Yea all this hast thou done of Envy to my Father and to Godliness of Hatred to me and my People and that thou mightest destroy others besides 1 Chron. 21.1 And now what can this Accuser say Can he excuse himself Can he contradict our Advocate He cannot He knows that he is a Satan an Enemy and as an Adversary has he sown his Tares among the Wheat that it might be rooted up But he shall not have his End his Malice has prevented him and so has the Care and Grace of our Advocate The Tares therefore he shall have returned to him again but the Wheat for all this shall be gathered into God's Barn Mat. 13.25 26 27 28. Thus therefore our Advocate makes Use in his Plea against Satan of the Rage and Malice that is the Occasion of the Enemies Charge wherewith he accuseth the Children of God. Wherefore when thou readest these Words O Satan say with thy self Thus Christ our Advocate accuseth our Adversary of Malice and Envy against God and Goodness while he accuseth us of the Sins which we commit for the which we are sorry and Christ has paid a Price of Redemption And thus If any Man sin we have an Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous But Sixthly Christ when he pleads as an Advocate for his People in the Presence of God against Satan He can plead those very Weaknesses of his People for which Satan would have them damned for their Relief and Advantage Is not this a Brand plucked â—ut of the Fire This
by how mucâ— God hath called his Son to Offices and Placeâ— of trust by so much he hath heaped Dignitieâ— upon him 'T is said of Mordecai That he waâ— next to the King Ahasuerus And what then Why then the Greatness of Mordecai his higâ— Advance must be written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Media and Persia Esth. 10.1 2 3. to the end his Fame might not be buried nor forgot but remembred and talked of in Generations to come Why my Brethren God hath exalted Jesus of Nazareth Hath made him the only great one having given him a Name above every Name A Name did I say a Name and Glory beyond all Names and above all Names aâ— doth witness both his being set above all and the many Offices which he executeth for God on behalf of his People 'T is counted no little Addition to Honour when Men are not only made near to the King but also intrusted with most if not almost with all the most weighty Affairs of the Kingdom Why this is the Dignity of Christ he is 't is true the natural Son of God and so high and one that abounds with Honour but this is not all God has conferred upon him as Man all the high and most mighty Honours of Heaven He hath made him Lord Mediator betwixt him and the World. This in general And particularly he hath called him to be his high Priest forever Heb. 7.21 22 23 24. and hath sworn he shall not be changed for another he hath accepted of his Offering once forever counting that there is wholly enough in what he did once to perfect forever them that are sanctified to wit set apart to Glory Heb. 10.11 12 13. He is Captain General of all the Forces that God hath in Heaven and Earth the King and Commander of his People Chap. 9.25 26. He is Lord of all and made Head over all things to the Church Eph. 1.22 and is our Advocate with the Father O the Exaltation of Jesus Christ Let Christians therefore in the first Place consider this Nor can it but be profitable to them if withal they consider that all this Trust and Honour is put and conferred upon him in Relation to the Advantage and Advancement of Christians If Christians do but consider the nearness that is 'twixt Christ and them and withal consider how he is exalted it must needs be matter of Comfort to them He is my Flesh and my Bone that is exalted it is my Friend and Brother that is thus set up and preferred 'T was something to the Jews when Mordecai was exalted to Honour they had thereby Ground to rejoice and be glad for that one of themselves was made the Lord Chief by the King and the great Governour of the Land for the good of his Kindred True when a Man thinks of Christ as severed from him he sees but little to his Comfort in Christ's Exaltation but when he looks upon Christ and can say my Saviour my Priest or the chief Bishop of my Soul then he will see much in his being thus promoted to Honour Consider then of the Glories to which God has exalted our Saviour in that he hath made him so high 'T is comely also when thou speakest of him that thou name his Name with some additional Title thereby to call thy Mind to the Remembrance and so to the greater Reverence of the Person of thy Jesus As our Lord Jesus our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ the Apostle and High Priest of our Profession Christ Jesus 2 Pet. 2. 20. Heb. 3.1 c. Men write themselves by their Titles As John Earl of such a Place Anthony Earl of such a Place and Thomas Lord c. 'T is common also to call Men in great Places by their Titles rather than by their Names yea it also pleases such great ones well As my Lord High Chancellor of England my Lord Privy-Seal my Lord high Admiral c. And thus should Christians make mention of Jesus Christ our Lord adding to his Name some of his Titles of Honour specially since all Places of Trust and Titles of Honour conferred on him are of special Favour to us I did use to be much taken with one Sect of Christians for that it was usually their way when they made mention of the Name of Jesus to call him The blessed King of Glory Christians should do thus 't would do them good For why doth the Holy Ghost think you give him all these Titles but that we should call him by them and so make mention of him one to another For the very calling of him by this or that Title or Name belonging to this or that Office of his giveth us Occasion not only to think of him as exercising that Office but to enquire by the Word by Meditation and one of another what there is in that Office and what by his exercising of that the Lord Jesus profiteth his Church How will Men stand for that Honour that by Superiors is given to them expecting and using all things to wit Actions and Carriages so as that thereby their Grandure may be maintained And saith Christ ye call me Master and Lord and ye say well for so I am Joh. 13.13 Christ Jesus our Lord would have us exercise our selves in the Knowledge of his glorious Offices and Relative Titles because of the Advantage that we get by the Knowledge of them and the Reverence of and Love to him that they beget in our Hearts The Disciple saith the Text whom Jesus loved said unto Peter It is the Lord. And when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord He girt his Fishers Coat unto him for he was naked and did cast himself into the Sea And the other Disciples came in a little Ship to wit to Shore to wait upon their Lord Chap. 21. The very naming of him under the Title of Lord bowed their Hearts forthwith to come with Joint-readiness to wait upon him Let this also learn us to distinguish Christs Offices aâ—d Titles not to confound them For he exerciseth those Offices and beareth those Titles for great Reason and to our Commodity Every Circumstance relating both to Christ's Humiliation and Exaltation ought to 〈◊〉 duly weighed by us because of that Myâ—â—ery of God and of Man's Redemption that 〈◊〉 wrapt up therein For as there was not a â—â—in nor a loop nor a tack in the Tabernacle â—ut had in it an use of Instruction to the Chilâ—ren of Israel so there is not any part wheâ—her more near or more remote to Christ's â—uffering and Exaltation but is could we â—et into it full of spiritual Advantage to us To instance the Matter that came out of Christ's Side a thing little taken Notice of either by Preachers or Hearers and yet John makes it one of the Witnesses of the Truth â—f our Redemption and a Confirmation of â—he Certainty of that Record that God to the World hath given of the Sufficiency that is