BOOK 9. THE INTERCESSION.
CHAPTER 2.
9.2.4. Of Hoping in Jesus in that Respect.
Of Hoping in Jesus in that Respect.
Let us hope in Jesus, carrying on this work of our salvation in his intercession, "It is good that a man should hope," Lam. iii. 26 . Indeed, if it were not for hope the heart would not hold: only look that our hope be true hope; very hypocrites, have a kind of hope, but if God's word be true, "The hope of the unjust men shall perish," Prov. xi. 7. -- "What is the hope of the hypocrite? Will God hear his cry when trouble cometh upon him?" Job xxvii. 8, 9. No, no, "The hypocrite's hope shall perish, his hope shall be cut off, and his trust shall be as a spider's web," Job viii. 13, 14. O my soul! Hope in Jesus, but rest not till thou canst give a reason of thy hope, till thou canst prove that they are the hopes which grace and not only nature hath wrought; that they are grounded upon scripture promises and sound evidences; that they purify the heart; that the more thou hopest the less thou sinnest; that they depend on sure and infallible causes, as on the truth, power and mercy of God; on the merits, mediation, and intercession of Jesus Christ; what, is this last amongst the rest (I mean the intercession of Christ) the spring of thy hope? Canst thou follow the stream, till it brings thee to this fountain or wellhead of hope, that now thou canst say, "O this intercession is mine!" Come, search, and try, it is worth the pains; and to put thee out of question, and in a more facile way of discerning, I shall lay down these signs. As, --
1. If Christ's intercession be mine, then is the Spirit's intercession mine. Or if thou wouldst rather argue from the effect to the cause, then thus; if the Spirit's intercession be mine, then is Christ's intercession mine. In this case, we need not to ascend up into heaven to learn the truth, rather let us descend into our own hearts, and look whether Christ hath given us of his Spirit, which makes us cry unto God, "with sighs and groans which cannot be expressed;" he that would know whether the sun shines in the firmament, he must not climb into the clouds to look, rather he must search for the beams thereof upon the earth; which, when he sees, he may conclude, that the sun shines in the firmament; O come, and let us ransack our own consciences; let us search whether we feel the Spirit of Christ crying in us, Abba, Father; certainly these two are as the cause and the effect; Christ's intercession in heaven, and his Spirit's intercession on earth are as twins of a birth; or rather such is the concatenation of these two, that Christ's intercession in heaven breeds another intercession in the hearts of his saints. It is the same Spirit dwelling in Christ, and in all his members, that moves and stirs them up to cry, Abba, Father. Here then is my argument, if Christ hath put his Spirit into thy heart, and if the Spirit hath set thy heart on work to make incessant intercessions for thyself, then is Christ's intercession thine. There is a kind of a round in the carrying on of this great work of intercession; as;
(a). Christ intercedes for his people, O that my Spirit might go down!
(b). God hearkens to the intercession of Christ, Awake, Holy Spirit, get thee down into the hearts of such and such.
(c). The Spirit waits on the pleasure of them both, and no sooner down but he sends up his intercession back again: Christ cries to God, and God sends the Spirit, and the Spirit goes and echoes in the hearts of saints, to the cries of Christ. Much of this is contained in that one text, "God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, ('Krazon,') crying, (as if he merely acted our tongues) Abba, Father," Gal. iv. 6. Here is God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost, and all are acting their parts on the elect people of God; the Son intercedes, "O that my Spirit may be given to these!" The Father willingly grants, "Away, Holy Spirit, and, as my Son asketh, enter, and take possession of those sinful hearts:" the Holy Spirit obeys, and no sooner in the hearts of the saints, but he cries in them, Abba, Father. God hears Christ, and the Spirit hears God, and the elect hear the Spirit; and now because the Spirit speaks in the elect, God hears the elect. Much like unto this is that of the prophet, "And it shall come to pass in that day, I will hear, saith the Lord; I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth, and the earth shall hear the corn, and wine, and oil, and they shall hear Jezreel," Hosea ii. 21. O my soul, to the test! hath God sent forth the Spirit of his Son into thy heart? Hast thou the indwelling of the Spirit; and now by help of the Spirit, canst thou pray with earnestness, confidence, and an holy importunity? Canst thou cry, Abba, Father; i.e. Canst thou cry with earnestness, Father? With confidence, Abba, and Abba Father, or Father, Father, with an holy importunity. Why, these are the very signs of the Spirit's intercession. O my soul! that thou wouldst deal faithfully with thy ownself; canst thou by the help of the Spirit go to the Father in the name of Christ? As Christ is gone before into the holy of holies to intercede, so canst thou with boldness follow after, "and enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus," Heb. x. 19. Canst thou say, God hath given me his Spirit, and his Spirit hath showed me Christ as my Mediator at the right hand of God; and now, under the wing of such a Mediator, I can, by the Spirit's assistance, go with boldness, (meta porresias,) with assuming a liberty, to speak anything I will in the ears of God: surely this is the fruit, the effect of Christ's intercession, and therefore thou mayest comfortably conclude, Christ's intercession is mine.
2. If at any time in the midst of duties I am savingly affected, then is Christ's intercession mine. Sometimes it pleaseth God to appear in ordinances, and the soul is comforted, quickened, enlarged, affected; why, now I look upon this as the efficacy of Christ's blood, and as the power of Christ's intercession; at that very instant that I feel any good in any ordinance of Christ, why then, even then, is Christ prevailing with God his Father; for what I feel, then, even then may I boldly say, "Now is the Lord Jesus, who is at God's right hand in heaven, remembering me a poor worm on earth; Oh now I feel the fruit of his intercession! Oh what is this spirit, power, grace, comfort, sweetness 1 drink of! but a taste of the honey-comb with the end of my rod, dropping from the intercessions of Jesus Christ? And if this presence of Christ's Spirit be so sweet, What is himself then? I know we had need to be wary in laying down this sign; it is clearly proved by an eminent divine, "That sweet motions of heart in holy things, are not infallible evidences of grace." (Mr. Burges of Assurance.) The third kind of hearers are said to "receive the word with joy," Matt, xiii. 20. They found some sweet and power in the ordinances of Christ. And Herod heard John gladly, Mark xvi. 20. And many "for a season rejoiced in John's light and ministry," John v. 35. Certainly affections in holy administrations with delight and joy, may be in those, who, yet have no true grace; so it may be, that the novelty and strangeness of a doctrine may much effect and delight; or the nature of the doctrine, as it is comfortable, without any respect to spiritual operations, may exceedingly affect, or the minister's abilities, because of his parts, eloquence, elocution, affectionate utterance, may much delight and stir up the hearers affections; fine head-notions may produce some affectionate heart motions? but what symptom of grace in all this? The sign therefore I lay down of my propriety in Christ's intercessions is not every sweet motion, or every excited affection, but that which is holy, spiritual, heavenly, saving; I may discern much of this, if I will but look into the grounds and effects of my excited or stirred-up affections; if the ground thereof be fetched from heaven, and in their effect they tend towards heaven, if they wean my heart from the world, if they elevate and raise up my affections to things above, if they form, and frame my conversation heaven-wards, then may I be assured these motions and affections are of the right stamp, for all such motions are but sparks of that heavenly fire, the flame whereof is mindful of its own original; they are the fruits of Christ, and they go back to Christ, they work towards their centre, they tend towards the place from whence they came; and in this respect, O that I could never hear a sermon without a savoury affection of what I hear! O that I could never go to prayer without some warmth, and heat, and life and fervency! Oh that in every duty I were savingly affected, that I felt the savour of Christ's ointments, whose name, and whose intercession is an ointment poured forth: in times of the Old Testament, if they offered up a sacrifice, and a material fire came down from heaven and burnt up the sacrifice to ashes, it was a certain testimony that the sacrifice was accepted: now, in the time of the gospel, we must not expect material fire to come down upon our duties; but hath the Lord at any time caused an inward and spiritual fire to fall down upon thy heart, warming thy Spirit in duty, and carrying it up heaven-ward? Surely if so, thou mayest safely conclude, these are the very effects of Christ's intercession; his intercession is mine.
3. If in my heart I feel a holy frame, disposition, inclination to pray and cry, and intercede for others, especially for the miseries and distresses of the church of God; then is Christ's intercession mine. We should (as near as we may) in every thing conform to Christ; and this conformity is an evidence or sign to us of our interest in Christ; O my soul! go down into the inmost closet of thy heart, look what disposition there is in it towards the members of Christ; and thou mayest conclude there is in Christ's heart the very same disposition towards thee. Ah? do I think there is love in my bosom towards the saints, and that there is no love in Christ's bosom towards me? What, can I think that my narrow straitened and sinful bowels are larger than those wide, compassionate and tender bowels of Jesus Christ? As a drop of water is in comparison of the ocean, and as a gravel stone is in comparison of the sand, so is my heart to Christ's and my love to Christ, and my bowels to Christ's. Come then, and try by this sign, "Hereby we know that we are translated from death to life, if we love the brethren; he that loveth not his brother, abideth in death," 1 John iii. 14. -- Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren, verse 16 . Is not this plain, if I love the brethren, Christ loveth me: If I feel in my heart an holy disposition to go to God, and to pray, and cry, and intercede for a saint in misery, surely the Lord Jesus hath as much bowels towards me, and to go and intercede for me, and to present my prayers unto God the Father; his intercession is mine.
4. If I am called, justified and sanctified, then is Christ's intercession mine; are not these the subject-matter of Christ's intercession? "I pray (saith Christ) that thou shouldest keep them from the evil," John xvii. 15. -- I pray that thou wouldst "sanctify them through thy truth: neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which believe on me through their word or preaching; Father, I will, that those whom thou hast given me, be with me in glory," verse 17, 20. 24. He first prays that we may be called and justified, and then he prays that we may be sanctified and saved: he holds at both ends of this golden chain of our salvation; the one end is hanged at his breast, where the names of all his saints are written, and the other is at his heart that he may be the author and finisher, the first and last, the beginning and ending of our soul's salvation: alas! there is nothing in us, in our reach here below; the first stirrings of grace is up in heaven, at the right-hand of the Father; and the far end of any gracious thought is as far above us, as the heart of Christ is above the earth; come then, since all hangs on this great pin of Christ's intercession; let us search and try, Are we called? Do we believe on the Son? Are we sanctified in some measure? Are we kept from the evil, that sin may not have dominion over us? Hath Christ put up these prayers in our behalf, that now we feel (as it were) and experience the truth of Christ's prevailings with his Father in our hearts and lives? O sure signs that Christ's intercession is ours! Away, away, all diffidence, doubting, wavering, fluctuating hopes; a soul thus grounded, may with Paul cast the gauntlet, and bid defiance to all the world, "Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea, rather that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, and who also maketh intercession for us," Rom. viii. 34.