And yet, though God hath for ever shut up and barred this way to all the children of men, telling us that no man shall ever have access to him in his own name, as Christ the Prince had ; how do some, notwithstanding, strive to force open the Prince's gate*? So do they, that found the intercession of saints upon their own works and merits, thereby robbing Christ of his peculiar glory ; but all that so approach God, approach a devouring fire ; Christ only, in the virtue of his blood, thus comes before him, to make inter- cession for us,
Secondly, We will enquire wherein the intercession of Christ in heaven consists, or by what acts he performs his glorious office there. And the scriptures place it in three things :
1. In his presenting himself before the Lord in our names, and upon our account-]-, So we read in Heb. ix. 28. " Christ is entered " into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us." The apostle manifestly alludes to the High-priest's appearing in the holy of holies, which was the figure of heaven, presenting to the Lord the names of the twelve tribes of Israel, which were on his breast and shoulders, Exod. xxviii. 9, 12, 28, 29. To which the church is supposed to allude in that request, Cant. viii. 6. " Set me " as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm." Now the very sight of Christ, our High-priest in heaven, prevails exceed- ingly with God, and turns away his displeasure from us. As when God looks upon the rainbow, which is the sign of the cove- nant, he remembers the earth in mercy: so when he looks on Christ, his heart must needs be towards us, upon his account ; and therefore in Rev. iv. 3. Christ is compared to a rainbow encom- passing the throne.
Christ performs his intercession-work in heaven J, not by a naked appearing in the presence of God only, but also by presenting his blood, and all his sufferings to God, as a moving plea on our ac- count. Whether he makes any proper oral intercession there, as he
* Peter Lombard, book iv. dist. 45.
f We must see what is meant by his appearing for us before God : This has respect to the types of the ancient High-priest, who, having entered within the vail, was said to appear before God for the people, in regard he presented himself before God with the blood of the goat that was the sin-offering : and by his prayers, re- quested, as a supplicant, that he should be propitious to his sins, and these of the people, not for the sake of the blood of that goat, but of that which was represented by it, the blood of Christ the Mediator to be shed afterwards. Doct. Parens on this place.
\ By willing and prudently desiring, as formerly on earth, so also when with his Father in heaven, he insists that the virtue and efficacy of his death may be applied to our salvation. Synopsis purioris Theol. p. 546.
SERM. XIII. THE FOUNTAIN OF LIFE. 169
did on earth, is not so clear ; some incline to it, and think it is coun- tenanced by Zechariah, chap. i. 12, 13. Where Christ our Inter- cessor presents a proper vocal request to the Father, in the behalf of his people ; saying " O Lord of hosts, how long wilt thou not " have mercy on Jerusalem, and on the cities of Judah, against " which thou hast had indignation these threescore and ten years ? " And the Lord answered him with good and comfortable words." And so Acts ii. 23. as soon as he came to heaven, he is said (and that is the first fruits of his intercession) to obtain the promise of the Holy Ghost. But sure I am, an interceding voice is by an usual prosopopcia attributed to his blood ; which in Heb. xii. 24. is said * to speak better things than that of Abel." Now Abel's blood and so Christ's, do cry unto God, as the hire of the labourers unjustly detained, or the whole creation, which is in bondage, through our sins, is said to cry and groan in the ears of the Lord, Jam. v. 4. Rom. viii. 22. not vocally, but efficaciously. A rare illustration of this efficacious intercession of Christ in heaven, we have in that famous story of Amintas *, who appeared as an advo- cate for his brother iEchylus, who was strongly accused, and very- likely to be condemned to die. Now Amintas having performed great services, and merited highly of the common- wealth, in whose service one of his hands was cut off in the field ; he comes into the court in his brother's behalf, and said nothing, but only lifted up his arm, and shewed them cubitum sine ma?iu, an arm without a hand, which so moved them, that, without a word speaking, they freed his brother immediately.
And thus if you look into Rev. v. 6. you shall see in what pos, ture Christ is represented, visionally there, as standing between God and us ; " And I beheld, and lo, in the midst of the throne, " and the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders stood a Lamb " as it had been slain ;" i, e. bearing in his glorified body the marks of death and sacrifice -f\ Those wounds he received for our sins on earth, are, as it were, still fresh bleeding in heaven : a moving and prevailing argument it is with the Father, to give out the mercies he pleads for.
3. And lastly, He presents the prayers of his saints to God, with his merits ; and desires that they may for his sake be granted. He causes a cloud of incense to ascend before God with them, Rev. vii. 3. All these were excellently typified out by the going in of the High-priest before the Lord, with the names of the children of Israel on his breast, with the blood of the sacrifice, and his
* Mian Hist, book 5. chap. 1 9. f Deodati on this place,
170 THE FOUNTAIN OF LIFE. SERM. XI1X,
hands full of incense, as the apostle explains them in Heb. vii. and Heb. ix.
Thirdly, And that this intercession of Christ is most potent, suc- cessful, and prevalent with God, will be evinced, both from the qualification of this our Advocate, from his great interest in the Father, from the nature of the place he useth with God, and from the relation and interest believers have, both in the Father to whom, and the Son by whom this intercession is made.
1. Our intercessor in the heavens is every way able and fit for the work he is engaged in there. Whatever is desirable in an ad- vocate, is in him eminently. It is necessary that he who under- takes to plead the cause of another, especially if it be weighty and intricate, should be wise, faithful, tender-hearted, and one that concerns himself in the success of his business. Our Advocate Christ, wants no wisdom to manage his work ; he is the wisdom of God, yea, only wise, Jude 9,5. There is much folly in the best of our duties, we know not how to press an argument home with God ; but Christ hath the art of it. Our business is in a wise hand : he is no less faithful than wise ; therefore he is called