JESUS CHRIST AS ADVOCATE – CHAPTER 1 & 2 – John Bunyan
THE WORK OF JESUS CHRIST AS AN ADVOCATE, EXPLAINED.
THINGS PRESUPPOSED IN THE TEXT.
And If Any Man Sin, We Have An Advocate With The Father, Jesus Christ The Righteous. — 1 John 2:1.
THAT the apostle might obtain due regard from those to whom he wrote, touching the things about which he wrote, he tells them that he received not his message to them at second or third hand, but was himself an eye and ear witness thereof. “That which was from the beginning, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of Life; (for the Life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto you that Eternal Life which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;) that which we have seen and heard, declare we unto you.”
Having thus told them of his ground for what he said, he proceeds to tell them also the matter contained in his errand, namely, that he brought them news of eternal life, as freely offered in the word of the gospel to them; or rather that the gospel which they had received would certainly usher them in at the gates of the kingdom of heaven, were their reception of it sincere and in truth. For (saith he) then “the blood of Jesus Christ the Son of God cleanseth us from all sin.”
Having thus far told them what was his errand, he sets upon the. explication of what he had said, especially touching our being cleansed from all sin. ‘Not (saith he) from a being of sin; for should we say so, we should deceive ourselves, and should prove that we have no truth of God in us. But by cleansing, I mean a being delivered from all sin, so as that none at all shall have the dominion over you, to bring you down to hell: because for the sake of the blood of Christ all trespasses are forgiven you.
This done, he exhorts them to shun or fly sin, and not to consent to the motions, enticings, or allurements thereof, saying, “I write unto you, that you sin not.” Let not forgiveness have so bad an effect upon you, as to cause you to be remiss in Christian duties, or to tempt you to give way to evil. Shall we sin because we are forgiven? Or shall we not much matter what manner of lives we live, because we are set free from the law of sin and death? God forbid. Let grace teach us another lesson, and lay other obligations upon our spirits.’ “My little children.” saith he, “these things, I write unto you, that ye sin not.” What things? Why, tidings of pardon and salvation, and of that nearness to God to which you are brought by the precious blood of Christ. Now, lest also by this last exhortation, he should yet be misunderstood, he adds, “And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” I say, he addeth this to prevent desponding in those weak and sensible Christians that are so quick of feeling, and of discerning the corruption’s of their natures; for these cry out continually, that there is nothing that they do, but it is attended with sinful weaknesses.
Wherefore in the words we are presented with two great truths. 1. With a supposition that men in Christ, while in this World, may sin. “If any man sin:” any man; none are excluded; for all, or any of the all of them that Christ hath redeemed and forgiven are incident to sin. By may, I mean not a toleration, but a possibility; for there is not a man, not a just man upon the earth, that doeth good and sinneth not. Ecclesiastes 7:20; Kings 8:46. 2. The other thing with which we are presented, is an Advocate. “If any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, in Jesus Christ, the righteous.”
Now there lieth in these two truths two things to be enquired into. As, 1. What the Apostle here means by sin? 2. And also what he here doth mean by an Advocate: “If any man sin, we have an Advocate.”
There is ground to enquire after the first of these; because though here he saith, they that sin have an Advocate, yet in the very next chapter he saith, such are of the devil, have not seen God, neither know him, nor are of him.
There is ground also to enquire after the second, because an Advocate is supposed to be of use to them that sin: “If any man sin, we have an Advocate.” 1. For the first of these, namely, what the Apostle here means by sin:’ If any man sin.”
I answer, since there is a difference in the persons, there must be a difference in the sin. That there is a difference in the persons is showed before; one is called a child of God, the other is said to be of the wicked one. Their sins differ also in their degree at least; for no child of God sins to that degree as to make himself incapable of forgiveness: “But he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not.” 1 John 5:18. Hence the apostle saith, “There is a sin unto death,” ( John 5:16,) which is the sin from which he that is born of God is kept.
The sins therefore are thus distinguished: the sins of the people of God are said to be sins that men commit; the others are those which are counted sins of devils.
First, The sins of God’s people are said to be sins that men commit, and for which they have an Advocate, though they who sin after the manner of the wicked one have none. “When a man or woman (saith Moses) shall commit any sin which men commit, they shall confess their sins — and an atonement shall be made for them,” Numbers 5:5,6,7.
Mark, it is when they commit a sin which men commit; or as Hosea has it, when they transgress the commandment like Adam. Hosea 6:7. Now these are the sins under consideration by the apostle, and to deliver us from which “we have an Advocate with the Father.”
But for the sins mentioned in the third chapter, since the persons sinning go there under another character, they also must be of another stamp, namely, a making head against the person, merits, and grace of Jesus Christ. These are the sins of devils in the world; and for these there is no remission.
These are they also that are of the wicked one committed, and therefore sin after the similitude of Satan, and so fall into the condemnation of the devil. 2. But what is it for Jesus to be an Advocate for these? “If any man sin, we have an advocate.”
An Advocate is one that pleadeth for another at any bar, or before any court of judicature; but of this more in its place. So then we have in the text a Christian, as supposed, committing sin, and a declaration of an Advocate prepared to plead for him; “If any man sin we have an Advocate with the Father.”
And this leads me first to enquire into what, by these words, the apostle must of necessity Presuppose. For making use here of the similitude or office of an Advocate, thereby to show the preservation of a sinning Christian, he must, 1. Suppose that God, as Judge, is now upon the throne of his judgment; for an advocate is to plead at a bar, before a court of Judicature. Thus it is among men; and forasmuch as our Lord Jesus is said to be “an Advocate with the Father,” it is clear, that there is a throne of Judgment also. This the prophet Micah affirms, saying, “I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing by him on his right hand, and on his left;” 1 Kings 22:19,20; — sitting upon a throne for judgment; for from the Lord, as then sitting upon the throne, proceeded the sentence against King Ahab, that he should go and fall at Ramoth-gilead; and he did go, and did fall there as the award, or fruit of that judgment. That is the first. 2. The text also supposeth that the sailors, as well as sinners, are concerned at that bar. For the apostle saith plainly, that there “we have an Advocate.” And the saints are concerned at the bar, because they transgress as well as others, and because the law is against the sins of saints, as well as against the sins of other men. If the saints were not capable of committing sin, what need would they have of an advocate? 1 Chronicles 21:3-6; 1 Samuel 12:13,14. Yea, though they did sin, yet if they were by Christ so set free from the law as that it could by no means take cognizance of their sins, what need would they have of an advocate? None at all. If there be twenty places where there are assizes kept in this land, yet if I have offended no law, what need have I of an advocate? especially if the judge be just, and knows me altogether, as the God of heaven does. But here is a Judge that is just, and here is an Advocate also, an advocate for the children of God, an advocate to plead, (for an advocate as such, is not of use, but before a bar to plead;) therefore here is an offence, and so a law broken by the saints as well as others. That is the second thing. 3. As the text supposeth that there is a Judge, and crimes of saints, so it supposeth that there is an Accuser; one that will carefully gather up the faults of good men, and that will plead them at this bar against them.
Hence we read of the Accuser of the brethren, that accuseth them before God day and night. Revelation 12:10,11,12. For Satan doth not only tempt the godly man to sin; but having prevailed with him, and made him guilty, packs away to the court, to God the Judge of all, and there addresses himself to accuse that man, and to lay to his charge the heinousness of his offence, pleading against him the law that he has broken, the light against which he did it, and the like. But now, for the relief and support of such poor people, the apostle by the text presents them with an Advocate; that is, with one to plead for them, while Satan pleads against them; with one that pleads for pardon, while Satan by accusing seeks to pull judgment and vengeance upon their heads. “If any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” That is the third thing. 4. As the apostle supposeth a Judge, crimes, and an Accuser, so he also supposeth, that those herein concerned, (namely, the sinning children,) neither can nor dare attempt to appear at this bar themselves, to plead their own cause before this Judge and against this accuser. For if they could or durst do this, what need have they an Advocate? for an Advocate is of use to them whose cause themselves neither can nor dare appear to plead. Thus Job prayed for an Advocate to plead his cause with God. Job 16:20,21. And David cries out, “Enter not into judgment with thy servant, O God, for in thy sight no man living shall be justified.” <19E302> Psalm 143:2.
Wherefore it is evident that saints neither can, nor dare venture to plead their cause. Alas! the Judge is the Almighty and Eternal God; the law broken is the holy and perfect rule of God, in itself a consuming fire; the sin is so odious, and a thing so abominable, that it is enough to make all the angels blush to hear it but so much as once mentioned in so holy a place as that is, where the great God doth sit to judge. This sin now hangs about the neck of him that hath committed it, yea, it covereth him as doth a mantle; the adversary is bold, cunning, audacious, and can word a thousand of us into an utter silence in less than half a quarter of an hour. What then should the sinner (if he could come there) do at this bar to plead? Nothing, nothing for his own advantage. But now comes in his mercy; he has an Advocate to plead his cause. “If any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” That is the fourth thing. But again, 5. The apostle also supposeth by the text, that there is an aptness in Christians, when they have sinned, to forget that they have an Advocate with the Father. Wherefore this is written to put them in remembrance. “If any man sin, (let him remember,) we have an Advocate.” We can think of all other things well enough, namely, that God is a just Judge, that the law is perfectly holy, that my sin is a horrible and abominable thing, and that I am certainly thereof accused before God by Satan. These things, I say, we readily think of, and forget them not. Our conscience puts us in mind of these; our guilt puts us in mind of these; the devil put, us in mind of these; and our reason and sense hold the knowledge and remembrance of these close to us. All that we forget is, that we have an Advocate; “an Advocate with the Father:” that is, one that is appointed to take in hand in open court, before all the angels of heaven, my cause, and to plead it by such law and arguments as will certainly fetch me off, though I am clothed with filthy garments. But this, I say, we are apt to forget, as Job, when he said, “Oh that one might plead for a man with God, as a man pleadeth for his neighbor!” Job 16:21.
Such a one Job had, but he had almost at this time forgot it; as he seems to intimate also, where he wisheth for a Day’s-man that might lay his hand upon them both. (Chap. 11 33.) But our mercy is, we have one to plead our cause, “an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous,” who will not suffer our soul to be sprit and spoiled before the throne, but will surely plead our cause. 6. Another thing that the apostle would have us learn from the words is this, That to remember and to believe that Jesus Christ is an Advocate for us when we have sinned, is the next way to support and strengthen our faith and hope. Faith and hope are very apt to faint when our sins in their guilt do return upon us, nor is there any more proper way to relieve our souls than to understand that the Son of God is our Advocate in heaven.
True, Christ died for our sins as a sacrifice, and as a Priest he sprinkleth with his blood the mercy-seat; aye, but here is one that has sinned grievously, so grievously that his sins are come up before God; yea, are at his bar pleaded against him by the Accuser of the brethren, by the enemy of the godly. What shall he do now? Why, let him believe in Christ. Believe, that is true; but how now must he conceive in his mind of Christ, for the encouraging him so to do? Why, let him call to mind that Jesus Christ is an Advocate with the Father, and as such he meeteth the Accuser at the bar of God, pleads for this man that has sinned, against this accuser, and prevaileth for ever against him. Here now, though Satan be turned lawyer, though he accuseth, yea, though his charge against us is true, (for suppose that we have sinned,) yet our Advocate is “with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.”
Thus is faith encouraged, thus is hope strengthened, thus is the spirit of the sinking Christian revived, and made to wait for a good deliverance from a bad cause and a cunning adversary; especially if you consider, 7. That the apostle doth also further suppose by the text, that Jesus Christ, as Advocate, if he will but plead our cause, let that be ever so black, is able to bring us off, even before God’s judgment-seat, to our joy, and the confounding of our adversary. For when he saith, “We have an Advocate,” he speaks nothing, if he means not thus. But he doth mean thus, he must mean thus, because he seeketh here to comfort and support the fallen. Has any man sinned? We have an Advocate. But what of that, if yet he be unable to fetch us off when Charged for sin at the bar, and before the face of a righteous Judge?
But he is able to do this; the apostle says so, in that he supposes a man has sinned, as any man among the godly ever did; for so we may understand it, and if he giveth us not leave to understand it so, he saith nothing to the purpose neither. For it will be objected by some, ‘But can he fetch me off, though I have done as David, as Solomon, as Peter, or the like?’ It must be answered, Yes. The openness of the term “any man,” the indefiniteness of the word “sin, ” doth naturally allow us to take him in the largest sense: besides, he brings in this saying as the chief, most apt, and fittest to relieve one crushed down to death and hell by the guilt of sin and a wounded conscience.
Further, methinks, by these words the apostle seems to triumph in his Christ, saying, ‘My brethren, I would have you study to be holy: but if your adversary the devil should get the advantage of you, and besmear you with the filth of sin, you have yet, besides all that you have heard already, “an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous;” who is, as to his person and worth, in interest with God’s wisdom, able to bring you off to the comfort of your souls.
Let me, therefore, for a conclusion as to this, give you an exhortation to believe, to hope and expect that though you have sinned, (for now I speak to the fallen saint,) that Jesus Christ will make a good end with thee. Trust, I say, in him, and he shall bring it to pass. I know I put thee upon a hard and difficult task, for believing and expecting good, when thy guilty conscience doth nothing but clog, burden, and terrify thee with the justice of God, and the greatness of thy sins; those burning torments are hard and sweating work. But it must be. The text calls for it, thy case calls for it, and thou must do it, if thou wouldst glorify Christ. And this is the way to hasten the issue of thy cause in hand; for believing daunts the devil, pleaseth Christ, and will help thee beforehand to sing that song of the church, saying, “O Lord, thou hast pleaded the causes of my soul, thou hast redeemed my life.” Lamentations 3:55-59. Yea, believe, and hear thy pleading Lord say to thee, “Thus saith thy Lord, the Lord and thy God, that pleadeth the cause of his people, Behold I have taken out of thine hand the cup of trembling, even the dregs of the cup of my fury; thou shalt no more drink it again.” Isaiah 51:22.
I am not here discoursing of the sweetness of Christ’s nature, but of the excellency of his offices, and of his office of advocateship in particular, which, as a lawyer for his client, he is to execute in the presence of God for us. Love may be where there is no office, and so where no power is to do us good: but now, when love and office shall meet, they will surely both combine in Christ to do the fallen Christian good. But of his love we have treated elsewhere; we will here discourse of the office of this loving One.
And for thy further information, let me tell thee, that God thy Father counteth that thou wilt be, when compared with this law, but a poor one all thy days; yea, the apostle tells thee so, in that he saith there is an Advocate provided for thee. When a father provides crutches for his child, he doth as good as say, I count that my child will be yet infirm: and when God doth provide an Advocate, he doth as good as say, My people are subject to infirmities. Do not therefore think of thyself above what, by plain texts and fair inferences drawn from Christ’s offices, thou art bound to think. What doth it bespeak concerning thee, that Christ is always a priest in heaven, and there ever lives to make intercession for thee, ( Hebrews 7:25,) but this, that thou art at the best in thyself, yea, and in thy best exercising of all thy graces too, but a poor, pitiful, sorry, sinful man, a man that would (when yet most holy) be certainly cast away, did not thy High Priest take away for thee the iniquity of thy holy things. The age we live in is a wanton age. The godly are not so humble, and low, and base in their own eyes as they should be, though their daily experience calls for it, and the priesthood of Jesus too.
But above all, the advocateship of Jesus Christ declares us to be sorry creatures; for that office does as it were predict, that some time or other we shall basely fall, and by falling be undone, if the Lord Jesus stand not up to plead. And as it shows this concerning us, so it shows concerning God, that he will not lightly or easily lose his people. He has provided well for us; blood to wash us in, a priest to pray for us, that we may be made to persevere; and, in case we foully fall, an Advocate to plead our cause, and to recover us from under, and out of the danger that by sin and Satan we at any time may be brought into.
CHAPTER – THIS OFFICE OF CHRIST EXPLAINED.
BUT having thus briefly passed through that in the text which I think the apostle must necessarily presuppose, I shall now endeavor to enter into the bowels of it, and see what, in a more particular manner, shall be found therein. And, for my more profitable doing of this work I shall choose to observe this method in my discourse.
I. I shall show you more particularly of this Advocate’sOFFICE, or what and wherein Christ’s office as Advocate doth lie.
II. After that, I shall also show you how Jesus Christ dothMANAGE this office of an Advocate.
III. I shall also then show you who they are, that have Jesus Christ for their Advocate.
IV. I shall also show you what excellentPRIVILEGES they have, who have Jesus Christ for their Advocate.
V. And to silence cavilers, I shall also show theNECESSITY of this office of Jesus Christ.
VI. I shall come to answer someOBJECTIONS; and Lastly, To the use andAPPLICATION.
I. To begin with the first of these, namely, to show you more particularly of Christ’sOFFICE as an Advocate, and wherein it lieth; the which I shall do these three ways. 1. Touch again upon the nature of this office; and then, 2. Treat of the order and place that it hath among the offices; and, 3. Treat of the occasion of the execution of this office. 1. To touch upon theNATURE OF THIS OFFICE. It is that which empowereth a man to plead for a man, or one man to plead for another; not in common discourses, and upon common occasions, as many do, but at a bar, or before a court of judicature, where a man is accused or impeached by his enemy; I say, this Advocate’s office is such both here and in the kingdom of heaven. An advocate, is as one of our attorneys, at. least in the general, who pleads according to law and justice, for one or other that is in trouble by reason of some miscarriage, or the naughty temper of some that are about him, who trouble and vex, and labor to bring him in danger of the law. This is the nature of this office, as I said, on earth; and this is the office that Christ executes in heaven. Wherefore he saith, “If any man sin, we have an Advocate,” one to stand up for him, and to plead for his deliverance before the bar of God. Joel 3:2; Isaiah 66:16; Genesis 18:23-33; Jeremiah 2:9.
For though in such places of scripture, Christ is said to plead for his with men, and that by terrible arguments as by fire, and sword, and famine, and pestilence; yet this is not intended by this text. For the apostle here saith, he is an Advocate with the Father, or before the Father, to plead for those that there (or that to the Father’s face) shall be accused for their transgressions. “If any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, even Jesus Christ the righteous.” So then this is the employ of Jesus Christ, as he is for us an Advocate. He has. undertaken to stand up for his people at God’s bar, and before that great court, there to plead, by the law and justice of heaven, for their deliverance, when for their faults they are accused, indited, or impeached by their adversary. 2. And now to treat of theORDER or place that this office of Christ hath among the rest of his offices, which he doth execute for us while we are here in a state of imperfection. And I think it is an office that is to come behind, as a reserve, or for an help at last, when all other means shall seem to fail. Men do not use to go to law upon every occasion; or if they do, the wisdom of the judge, the jury, and the court, will not admit that every brangle and foolish quarrel shall come before them; but an advocate doth then come into place, and then to the exercise of his office, when a cause is counted worthy to be taken notice of by the judge, and by the court.
Wherefore he, I say, comes in the last place, as a reserve or help at last to plead; and by pleading, to set that right by law which would otherwise have caused an inlet to more doubts and further dangers.
Christ as priest doth always works of service for us; because, in our most spiritual things, there may faults and spots be found, and these he taketh away of course by the exercise of that office; for he always wears that plate of gold upon his forehead before the Father, where is written, “Holiness to the Lord.” But now, besides these common infirmities, there are faults that are highly gross and foul, that oft are found in the skirts of the children of God. Now, these are they that Satan takes hold on, these are they that Satan draws up a charge against us for; and to save us from these it is that the Lord Jesus is made an Advocate. When Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, Satan stood at his right hand to resist him. Then the Angel of the covenant, the Lord Jesus, pleaded for his help. Zechariah 3. By all which it appears, that this office comes behind, is provided as a reserve, that we may have help at a pinch, and then be lifted out, when we sink in mire where there is no standing.
This is yet further hinted at by the several postures that Christ is said to be in, as he exerciseth his Priestly and Advocate’s office. As a Priest he sits, as an Advocate he stands. Isaiah 3:13. The Lord stands up when he pleads. His sitting is more constant, and of course, (“Sit thou on my right hand,” etc.;) but his standing is occasional, as when Joshua is indited, or when hell and earth are broken loose against his servant Stephen. For as Joshua was accused by the devil, and as then the Angel of the Lord stood by; so when Stephen was accused by men on earth, and that charge seconded by the fallen angels before the face of God, it is said, the Lord Jesus stood on the right hand of God, ( Acts 7:55;) that is, to plead; for so I take it, because standing is his posture as an Advocate, not as a Priest, for as a Priest he must sit down, ( Hebrews 10;) but he standeth as an Advocate, as has been showed afore. Wherefore, 3. TheOCCASION of his exercising this office of Advocate, is, as has been hinted already, when a child of God shall be found guilty before God of some heinous sin, of some grievous thing in his life and conversation. For as for those infirmities that attend the best in their most spiritual sacrifices, if a child of God were guilty of ten thousand of them, they are of course purged, through the much incense that is always mixed with those sacrifices in the golden censer that is in the hand of Christ; and so he is kept clean and counted upright, notwithstanding those infirmities; and, therefore, you shall find, that notwithstanding those common faults, the children of God are counted good and upright in conversation, and not charged as offenders. “David,” saith the text, “did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord, and turned not aside from any thing that he commanded him, all the days of his life, save only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.” 1 Kings 15:5. But was David in a strict sense without fault in all things else? No, verily: but that was foul in a higher degree than the rest, and, therefore, there God sets a blot; aye, and doubtless for that he was accused by Satan before the throne of God; for here is adultery, and murder, and hypocrisy in David’s doings; here is notorious matter, a great sin, and so a great ground for Satan to draw up an indictment against the king! and a thundering one to be sure shall be preferred against him. This is the time then for Christ to stand up to plead; for now there is room for such a question, Can David’s sin stand with grace? or, is it possible that a man that has done as he has, should yet be found a saint, and so in a saved state? or, can God repute him so, and yet be holy and just? or, can the merits of the Lord Jesus reach, according to the law of heaven, a man in this condition? Here is a case dubious; here is a man whose salvation, by his foul offences, is made doubtful; now we must to law and judgment, wherefore now let Christ stand up to plead. I say, now was David’s case dubious, ( Psalm 51;) he was afraid that God would cast him away, and the devil hoped he would; and to that end charged him before God’s face, if perhaps he might get sentence of damnation to pass upon his soul. But this was David’s mercy, he had an Advocate to plead his cause, by whose wisdom and skill, in matters of law and judgment, he was brought off from those heavy charges, from those gross sins, and delivered from that eternal condemnation that by the law of sin and death was due thereto.
This is then the occasion that Christ taketh to plead, as Advocate, for the salvation of his people, to wit, the cause: “He pleadeth the cause of his people.” Not every cause, but such and such a cause; the cause that is very bad, and by the which they are involved, not only in guilt and shame, but also in danger of death and hell. I say, the cause is bad, if the text be true, if sin can make it bad, yea, if sin itself be bad. “If any man sin, we have an Advocate;” an Advocate to plead for him; for him as considered guilty, and so consequently as considered in a bad condition. It is true we must distinguish between the person and the sin; and Christ pleads for the person, not the sin; but yet he cannot be concerned with the person but he must be with the sin; for though the person and the sin may be distinguished, yet they cannot be separated. He must plead then not for a person only, but for a guilty person, for a person under the worst of circumstances. “If any man sin, we have an Advocate” for him, as so considered.
When a man’s cause is good, it will sufficiently plead for itself, yea, and for its matter too; especially when it is made appear so to be before a just and righteous Judge. Here, therefore, needs no advocate; the Judge himself will pronounce him righteous. This is evidently seen in Job: “Thou movedst me against him” (this saith God to Satan) “to destroy him without cause.” Job 2:3. Thus far Job’s cause was good; wherefore he did not need an advocate; his cause pleaded for itself and for its owner also. But if it was to plead good causes for which Christ is appointed Advocate, then the apostle should have written thus: If any man be righteous, we have an Advocate with the Father. Indeed, I never heard but one in all my life preach from this text, and he, when he came to handle the cause for which he was to plead, pretended it must be good, and, therefore, said to the people, ‘See that your cause be good, else Christ will not undertake it.’ But when I heard it, ‘Lord,’ (thought I,)’if this be true, what shall I do, and what will become of all this people; yea, and of this preacher too?’ Besides, I saw that by the text the apostle supposeth another cause, a cause bad, exceeding bad, if sin can make it so. And this was one cause why I undertook this work.
When we speak of a cause, we speak not of a person simply as so considered; for, as I said before, person and cause must be distinguished; nor can the person make the cause good, but as he regulates his actions by the word of God. If then a good, a righteous man, doth what the law condemns, that thing is bad; and if he be indited for so doing, he is indited for a bad cause, and he that will be his advocate must be concerned in and about a bad matter, and how he will bring his client off, therein doth lie the mystery.
I know that a bad man may have a good cause depending before the judge; and so also good men have. Job 31. But then they are bold in their own cause, and fear not to make mention of it, and in Christ to plead their innocency before the God of heaven, as well as before men. Psalm 71:3-5; 2 Corinthians 1:23: Galatians 1:30; Philippians 1:8. But we have in the text a cause that all men are afraid of; a cause that the apostle concludes so bad, that none but Jesus Christ himself can save a Christian from it. It is not only sinful, but sin itself. “If any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father.”
Wherefore there is in this place handled by the apostle one of the greatest mysteries under heaven, namely, That an innocent and holy Jesus should take in hand to plead for one, that has defiled himself with sin before a just and righteous God; yea, that he should take in hand to plead for such a one against the fallen angels; and that he should also, by his plea, effectually rescue, and bring them off from the crimes and curse whereof they were verily guilty, by the verdict of the law, and approbation of the Judge.
This, I say, is a great mystery, and deserves to be pried into by all the godly, both because much of the wisdom of heaven is discovered in it, and because the best saint is, or may be concerned with it. Nor must we by any means let this truth be lost; because it is the truth; the text has declared it so; and to say otherwise is to belie the word of God, to thwart the apostle, to sooth up hypocrites, to rob Christians of their privilege, and to take the glory from the head of Jesus Christ. Luke 18:11,12.
The best saints are most sensible of their sins, and most apt to make mountains of their molehills. Satan also, as has been already hinted, doth labor greatly to prevail with them to sin, and to provoke their God against them by pleading what is true, or by surmising evilly of them to the end they may be accused by him. Job 2:9. Great is his malice towards them, great is his diligence in seeking their destruction; wherefore greatly doth he desire to sift, to try, and winnow them, if perhaps he can work in their flesh to answer his design, that is, to break out in sinful acts, that he may have by law to accuse them to their God and Father. Wherefore for their sakes this text abides, that they may see, that when they have sinned they “have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.”