of those very crimes for which he accuses us at the bar of God’s
tribunal. Not to say anything of how he cometh to us, solicits 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 though it is not meet for us thus to plead,-to
wit, laying that fault upon Satan, but rather upon ourselves,-yet our
advocate will do it, and make work of it too before God. “Simon, Simon,
behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he might sift you as
wheat; but I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not” (Luke
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 solicitations, 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 father’s 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, not to reform,
but to destroy my beloved and inheritance. The charge wherewith thou
chargest my people is thine own (Job 8:4-6). 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
would 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 (I 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 prevented9 him, and so has the
care and grace of our Advocate. The tares, therefore, he shall have
returned unto him again; but the wheat, for all this, shall be gathered
into God’s barn (Matt 13:25-30).
Thus, therefore, our Advocate makes use, in his plea against Satan, of
the rage and malice that is the occasion of the enemy’s charge
wherewith he accuseth the children of God. Wherefore, when thou readest
these words, “O Satan,” say with thyself, 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 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,
6. 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 out of the fire?” This is part
of the plea of our Advocate against Satan for his servant Joshua, when
he said, “The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan” (Zech3:2). Now, to be a brand
plucked out of the fire is to be a saint, impaired, weakened, defiled,
and made imperfect by sin; for so also the apostle means when he saith,
“And others save with fear, pulling them our of the fire; hating even
the garment spotted by the flesh” (Jude 23). By fire, in both these
places, we are to understand sin; for that it burns and consumes as
fire (Rom 1:27). Wherefore a man is said to burn when his lusts are
strong upon him; and to burn in lusts to others, when his wicked heart
runs wickedly after them (I Cor 7:9).
Also, when Abraham said, “I am but dust and ashes,” (Gen 18:27), he
means he was but what sin had left; yea, he had something of the smutch
and besmearings of sin yet upon him. Wherefore it was a custom with
Israel, in days of old, when they set days apart for confession of sin,
and humiliation for the same, to sprinkle themselves with, or to wallow
in dust and ashes, as a token that they did confess they were but what
sin had left, and that they also were defiled, weakened, and polluted
by it (Esth 4:1,3; Jer 6:26; Job 30:19, 42:6).
This, then, is the next plea of our goodly Advocate for us: O Satan,
this is “a brand plucked out of the fire.” As who should say, Thou
objected against my servant Joshua that he is black like a coal, or
that the fire of sin at times is still burning in him. And what then?
The reason why he is not totally extinct, as tow; is not thy pity, but
my Father’s mercy to him; I have plucked him out of the fire, yet not
so out but that the smell thereof is yet upon him; and my Father and I,
we consider his weakness, and pity him; for since he is as a brand
pulled out, can it be expected by my Father or me that he should appear
before us as clear, and do our biddings as well, as if he had never
been there? This is “a brand plucked out of the fire,” and must be
considered as such, and must be borne with as such. Thus, as
Mephibosheth pleaded for his excuse, his lameness,(II Sam 19:24-26), so
Christ pleads the infirm and indigent condition of his people, against
Satan, for their advantage. Wherefore Christ, by such pleas as these
for his people, doth yet further show the malice of Satan (for all this
burning comes through him), yea, and by it he moveth the heart of God
to pity us, and yet to be gentle, and long-suffering, and merciful to
us; for pity and compassion are the fruits of the yearning of God’s
bowels towards us, while he considereth us as infirm and weak, and
subject to slips, and stumbles, and falls, because of weakness.
And that Christ our Advocate, by thus pleading, doth turn things to our
advantage, consider, (1.) That God is careful, that through our
weakness, our spirits do not fail before him when he chides (Isa
57:16-18). (2.) “He stayeth his rough wind in the day of the east
wind,” and debates about the measure of affliction, when, for sin, we
should be chastened, lest we should sink thereunder (Isa 27:7-9). (3.)
He will not strictly mark what is done amiss, because if he should, we
cannot stand (Psa 130:3). (4.) When he threateneth to strike, his
bowels are troubled, and his repentings are kindled together (Hosea
11:8,9). (5.) He will spin out his patience to the utmost length,
because he knows we are such bunglers at doing (Jer 9:24). (6.) He will
accept of the will for the deed, because he knows that sin will make
our best performances imperfect (II Cor 8:12). (7.) He will count our
little a very great deal, for that he knows we are so unable to do
anything at all (Job 1:21). (8.) He will excuse the souls of his
people, and lay the fault upon their flesh, which has greatest affinity
with Satan, if through weakness and infirmity we do not do as we should
(Matt 26:41; Rom 7). Now, as I said, all these things happen unto us,
both infirmities and pity, because and for that we were once in the
fire, and for that the weakness of sin abides upon us to this day. But
none of this favour could come to us, nor could we, by any means, cause
that our infirmities should work for us thus advantageously; but that
Christ our Advocate stands our friend, and pleads for us as he doth.
But again, before I pass this over, I will, for the clearing of this,
present you with a few more considerations, which are of another
rank-to wit, that Christ our Advocate, as such, makes mention of our
weaknesses so, against Satan, and before his Father, as to turn all to
our advantage.
(1.) We are therefore to be saved by grace, because by reason of sin we
are disabled from keeping of the law (Deut 9:5; Isa 64:6). (2.) We have
given unto us the Spirit of grace to help, because we can do nothing
that is good without it (Eph 2:5; Rom 8:26). (3.) God has put Christ’s
righteousness upon us to cover our nakedness with, because we have none
of our own to do it withal (Phil 3:7,8; Eze 16:8). (4.) God alloweth us
to ride in the bosom of Christ to the grave, and from thence in the
bosom of angels to heaven, because our own legs are not able to carry
us thither (Isa 40:11, 46:4; Psa 48:14; Luke 16:22). (5.) God has made
his Son our Head, our Priest, our Advocate, our Saviour, our Captain,
that we may be delivered from all the infirmities and all the fiends
that attend us, and that plot to do us hurt (Eph 1:22; Col 1:18; Heb
7:21). (6.) God has put the fallen angels into chains, (II Peter 2:4;
Rev 20:1,2), that they might not follow us too fast, and has enlarged
us, (Psa 4:1), and directed our feet in the way of his steps, that we
may haste us to the strong tower and city of refuge for succour and
safety, and has given good angels a charge to look to us (Heb 1:14; Psa
34:7). (7.) God has promised that we, at our counting days, shall be
spared, “as a man spareth his own son that serveth him” (Mal 3:17).
Now, from all these things, it appears that we have indulgence at God’s
hand, and that our weaknesses, as our Christ manages the matter for us,
are so far off from laying a block or bar in the way to the enjoyment
of favour, that they also work for our good; yea, and God’s foresight
of them has so kindled his bowels and compassion to us, as to put him
upon devising of such things for our relief, which by no means could
have been, had not sin been with us in the world, and had not the best
of saints been “as a brand plucked out of the burning.”
I have seen men (and yet they are worse than God) take most care of,
and, also, best provide for, those of their children that have been
most infirm and helpless; 10 and our Advocate “shall gather his lambs
with his arms, and carry them in his bosom”; yea, and I know that there
is such an art in showing and making mention of weaknesses as shall
make the tears stand in a parent’s eyes, and as shall make him search
to the bottom of his purse to find out what may do his weakling good.
Christ, also, has that excellent art, as he is an Advocate with the
Father for us; he can so make mention of us and of our infirmities,
while he pleads before God, against the devil, for us, that he can make
the bowels of the Almighty yearn towards us, and to wrap us up in their
compassions. You read much of the pity, compassion, and of the yearning
of the bowels of the mighty God towards his people; all which, I think,
is kindled and made burn towards us, by the pleading of our Advocate. I
have seen fathers offended with their children; but when a brother had
turned a skillful advocate, the anger has been appeased, and the means
have been concealed. We read but little of this Advocate’s office of
Jesus Christ, yet much of the fruit of it is extended to the churches;
but as the cause of smiles, after offences committed, is made manifest
afterwards, so at the day when God will open all things, we shall see
how many times our Lord, as an Advocate, pleaded for us, and redeemed
us by his so pleading, unto the enjoyments of smiles and embraces, who,
for sin, but a while before, were under frowns and chastisements. And
thus much for the making out how Christ doth manage his office of being
an Advocate for us with the Father-“If any man sin, we have an Advocate
with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.”
[WHO HAVE CHRIST FOR AN ADVOCATE]
THIRDLY, And I shall come now to the third head; to wit, to show you
more particularly who they are that have Jesus Christ for their
Advocate.
In my handling of this head, I shall show, First, That this office of
an advocate differeth from that of a priest, and how. Second, I shall
show you how far Christ extendeth this his office of advocateship-I
mean, in matters concerning the people of God, And then, Third, I shall
come more directly to show who they are that have Christ for their
Advocate.
First, For the first of these, That this office of Christ, as an
Advocate, differeth from that of a Priest. That he is a Priest, a
Priest for ever, I heartily acknowledge; but that his priesthood and
advocateship should be one and the self-same office, I cannot believe.
1. Because they differ in name. We may as well say a father, as such,
is a son, or that father and son is the self-same relation, as say a
priest and an advocate, as to office, are but one and the same thing.
They differ in name as much as priest and sacrifice do: a priest is
one, and a sacrifice is another; and though Christ is Priest and
Sacrifice too, yet, as a Priest, he is not a Sacrifice, nor, as a
Sacrifice, a Priest.
2. As they differ in name, so they differ in the nature of office. A
priest is to slay a sacrifice; an advocate is to plead a cause; a
priest is to offer his sacrifice, to the end that, by the merit
thereof, he may appease; an advocate is to plead, to plead according to
law; a priest is to make intercession, by virtue of his sacrifice; an
advocate is to plead law, because amends is made.
3. As they differ in name and nature, so they also differ as to their
extent. The priesthood of Christ extendeth itself to the whole of God’s
elect, whether called or in their sins; but Christ, as Advocate,
pleadeth only for the children.
4. As they differ in name, in nature, and extent, so they differ as to
the persons with whom they have to do. We read not anywhere that
Christ, as Priest, has to do with the devil as an antagonist, but, as
an Advocate, he hath.
5. As they differ in these, so they differ as to the matters about
which they are employed. Christ, as Priest, concerns himself with every
wry thought, and, also, with the least imperfection or infirmity that
attends our most holy things; but Christ, as Advocate, doth not so, as
I have already showed.
6. So that Christ, as Priest, goes before, and Christ, as an Advocate,
comes after; Christ, as Priest, continually intercedes; Christ, as
Advocate, in case of great transgressions, pleads: Christ, as Priest,
has need to act always, but Christ, as Advocate, sometimes only.
Christ, as Priest, acts in times of peace; but Christ, as Advocate, in
times of broils, turmoils, and sharp contentions; wherefore, Christ, as
Advocate, is, as I may call him, a reserve, and his time is then to
arise, to stand up and plead, when HIS are clothed with some filthy sin
that of late they have fallen into, as David, Joshua, or Peter. When
some such thing is committed by them, as ministereth to the enemy a
show of ground to question the truth of their grace; or when it is a
question, and to be debated, whether it can stand with the laws of
heaven, with the merits of Christ, and the honour of God, that such a
one should be saved. Now let an advocate come forth, now let him have
time to plead, for this is a fit occasion for the saints’ Advocate to
stand up to plead for the salvation of his people. But,
Second, I come next to show you how far this office of an Advocate is
extended. I hinted at this before, so now shall be the more brief. 1.
By this office he offereth no sacrifice; he only, as to matter of
justice, pleads the sacrifice offered. 2. By this office he obtains the
conversion of none; he only thereby secureth the converted from the
damnation which their adversary, for sins after light and profession,
endeavoureth to bring them to. 3. By this office he prevents not
temporal punishment, but by it he chiefly preserveth the soul from
hell. 4. By this office he brings in no justifying righteousness for
us, he only thereby prevaileth to have the dispose of that brought in
by himself, as Priest, for the justifying of those, by a new and fresh
act, who had made their justification doubtful by new falls into sin.
And this is plain in the history of our Joshua, so often mentioned
before (Zech 3). 5. As Priest, he hath obtained eternal redemption for
us; and as Advocate, he by law, maintaineth our right thereto, against
the devil and his angels.
Third, I come now to show you who they are that have Jesus Christ for
their Advocate. And this I shall do-first, more generally, and then
shall be more particular and distinct about it.
1. More generally. They are all the truly gracious; those that are the
children by adoption; and this the test affirmeth-“My little children,
these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we
have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” They
are, then, the children, by adoption, that are the persons concerned in
the advocateship of Jesus Christ. The priesthood of Christ extendeth
itself to the whole body of the elect, but the advocateship of Christ
doth not so. This is further cleared by this apostle; and in this very
text, if you consider what immediately follows-“We have an Advocate,”
says he, “and he is the propitiation for our sins.” He is our Advocate,
and also our Priest. As an Advocate, ours only; but as a propitiation,
not ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world; to be sure,
for the elect throughout the world, and they that will extend it
further, let them.
And I say again, had he not intended that there should have been a
straiter limit put to the Advocateship of Christ than he would have us
put to his priestly office, what needed he, when he speaketh of the
propitiation which relates to Christ as Priest, have added-“And not for
ours only”? As an Advocate, then, he engageth for us that are children;
and as a Priest, too, he hath appeased God’s wrath for our sins; but as
an Advocate his offices are confined to the children only, but as a
Priest he is not so. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for
ours only. The sense, therefore, of the apostle should, I think, be
this-That Christ, as a Priest, hath offered a propitiatory sacrifice
for all; but as an Advocate he pleadeth only for the children.
Children, we have an Advocate to ourselves, and he is also our Priest;
but as he is a Priest, he is not ours only, but maketh, as such, amends
for all that shall be saved. The elect, therefore, have the Lord Jesus
for their Advocate then, and then only, when they are by calling put
among the children; because, as Advocate, he is peculiarly the
children’s-“My little children, WE have an Advocate.”
Objection. But he also saith, “If any man sin, we have an Advocate”;
any man that sinneth seems, by the text, notwithstanding what you say,
“to have an Advocate with the Father.”
Answer. By any man, must not be meant any of the world, nor any of the
elect, but any man in faith and grace; for he still limits this general
term, “any man,” with this restriction, “we”-Children, “if any man sin,
we have an Advocate.” We, any man of us. And this is yet further made
appear, since he saith that it is to them he writes, not only here, but
further in this chapter-“I write unto YOU, little children; I write
unto you, fathers; I write unto you, young men” (I John 2: 12,13).
These are the persons intended in the text, for under these three heads
are comprehended all men; for they are either children, and so men in
nature, or young men, and so men in strength; or else they are fathers,
and so aged, and of experience. Add to this, by “any man,” that the
apostle intendeth not to enlarge himself beyond the persons that are in
grace; but to supply what was wanting by that term “little children”;
for since the strongest saint may have heed of an Advocate, as well as
the most feeble of the flock, why should the apostle leave it to be so
understood as if the children, and the children only, had an interest
in that office? Wherefore, after he had said, “My little children, I
write unto you, that ye sin not”; he then adds, with enlargement, “If
any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father.” Yet the little
children may well be mentioned first, since they most want the
knowledge of it, are most feeble, and so by sin may be forced most
frequently to act faith on Christ, as Advocate. Besides, they are most
ready, through temptation, to question whether they have so good a
right to Christ in all his offices as have better and more well-grown
saints; and, therefore, they, in this the apostle’s salutation, are
first set down in the catalogue of names-“My little children, I write
unto you, that ye sin not. If any man sin, we have an Advocate with the
Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” So, then, the children of God are
they who have the Lord Jesus, an Advocate for them with the Father. The
least and biggest, the oldest and youngest, the feeblest and the
strongest; ALL the children have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus
Christ the righteous.
(1.) Since, then, the children have Christ for their advocate, art thou
a child? Art thou begotten of God by his Word? (James 1:18). Hast thou
in thee the spirit of adoption? (Gal 4:1-6). Canst thou in faith say,
Father, Father, to God? Then is Christ thy Advocate, thine Advocate,
“now to appear in the presence of God for thee” (Heb 9:24). To appear
there, and to plead there, in the face of the court of heaven, for
thee; to plead there against thine adversary, whose accusations are
dreadful, whose subtlety is great, whose malice is inconceivable, and
whose rage is intolerable; to plead there before a just God, a
righteous God, a sin-revenging God: before whose face thou wouldst die
if thou wast to show thyself, and at his bar to plead thine own cause.
But,
(2.) There is a difference in children; some are bigger than some;
there are children and little children-“My little children, I write
unto you.” Little children; some of the little children can neither say
Father, nor so much as know that they themselves are children.
This is true in nature, and so it is in grace; wherefore,
notwithstanding what was said under the first head, it doth not follow,
that if I be a child I must certainly know it, and also be able to call
God, Father. Let the first, then, serve to poise and balance the
confident ones, and let this be for the relief of those more feeble;
for they that are children, whether they know it or no, have Jesus
Christ for their Advocate, for Christ is assigned to be our Advocate by
the Judge, by the King, by our God and Father, although we have not
known it. True, at present, there can come from hence, to them that are
thus concerned in the advocateship of Christ, but little comfort; but
yet it yields them great security; they have “an Advocate with the
Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” God knows this, the devil feels
this, and the children shall have the comfort of it afterwards. I say,
the time is coming when they shall know that even then, when they knew
it not, they had an Advocate with the Father; an Advocate who was
neither loath, nor afraid, nor ashamed, to plead for their defense
against their proudest foe. And will not this, when they know it, yield
them comfort? Doubtless it will; yea, more, and of a better kind, than
that which flows from the knowledge that one is born to crowns and
kingdoms.