(2.) Neither is the signification of an Advocate to be omitted, seeing what he doth as such tendeth also to the consolation of the
862 THE HOLY SPIRIT AS A COMFORTER. [BOOK VIII.
church. And we must first observe, that the Holy Spirit is not our ad- vocate with God. This belongs alone unto Jesus Christ, and is a part of his office. He is said, indeed, to "make intercession for us with groanings that cannot be uttered/' Rom. viii. 26 ; but this he cloth not immediately, or in his own person. He no otherwise " maketh inter- cession for us" but by enabling us to make intercession according unto the mind of God ; for to make intercession form a lly is utterly in- consistent with the divine nature and his person, who hath no other nature but that which is divine. He is, therefore, incapable of being our advocate with God ; the Lord Christ is so alone, and that on the account of his precedent propitiation made for us. But he is an ad- vocate for the church, in, with, and against the world. Such an ad- vocate is one that undertaketh the protection and defence of another as to any cause wherein he is engaged. The cause wherein the dis- ciples of Christ are engaged in and against the world is the truth of the gospel, the power and kingdom of their Lord and Master. This they testify unto; this is opposed by the world; and this, under various forms, appearances, and pretences, is that which they suffer reproaches and persecutions for in every generation. In this cause the Holy Spirit is their advocate, justifying Jesus Christ and the gospel against the world.
And this he doth three ways: — [1.] By suggesting unto and fur- nishing the witnesses of Christ with pleas and arguments to the con- viction of gainsayers. So it is promised that he should do, Matt. x. 18-20, "Ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles. But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak : for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak. For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you." They were to be " given up," — that is, delivered up as male- factors,— unto kings and rulers, for their faith in Christ, and the tes- timony they gave unto him. In this condition the best of men are apt to be solicitous about their answers, and the plea they are to make in the defence of themselves and their cause. Our Saviour, therefore, gives them encouragement, not only from the truth and goodness of their cause, but also from the ability they should have in pleading for it unto the conviction or confusion of their adver- saries. And this he tells them should come to pass, not by any power or faculty in themselves, but by the aid and supply they should receive from this Advocate, who in them would speak by them. This was that " mouth and wisdom" which he promised unto them, " which all their adversaries should not be able to gainsay nor re- sist," Luke xxi. 15 ; — a present supply of courage, boldness, and liberty of speech, above and beyond their natural temper and abilities,
CHAP. I.] HIS OFFICE AS A COMFORTEK. 363
immediately upon their receiving of the Holy Ghost. And their very enemies saw the effects of it unto their astonishment. Upon the plea they made before the council at Jerusalem, it is said that "when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled," Acts iv. 13. They saw their outward condition, that they were poor, and of the meanest of the people, yet carried it with courage and boldness before this great sanhedrim, with whose authority and un- usual appearance in grandeur all persons of that sort were wont to be abashed and to tremble at them. They found them ignorant and unlearned in that skill and learning which the world ad- mired, yet [to] plead their cause unto their confusion. They could not, therefore, but discern and acknowledge that there was a divine power present with them, which acted them above themselves, their state, their natural or acquired abilities. This was the work of this Advocate in them, who had undertaken the defence of their cause. So when Paul pleaded the same cause before Agrippa and Felix, one of them confessed his conviction, and the other trembled in his judgment-seat.
Neither hath he been wanting unto the defence of the same cause, in the same manner, in succeeding generations. All the story of the church is filled with instances of persons mean in their outward con- dition, timorous by nature, and unaccustomed unto dangers, un- learned and low in their natural abilities, who, in the face of rulers and potentates, in the sight of prisons, tortures, fires, provided for their destruction, have pleaded the cause of the gospel with courage and success, unto the astonishment and confusion of their adversaries- Neither shall any disciple of Christ in the same case want the like assistance in some due measure and proportion, who expects it from him in a way of believing, and depends upon it. Examples we have hereof every day in persons acted above their own natural temper and abilities, unto their own admiration; for being conscious unto themselves of their own fears, despondencies, and disabilities, it is a surprisal unto them to find how all their fears have disappeared and their minds have been enlarged, when they have been called unto trial for their testimony unto the gospel. We are, in such cases, to make use of any reason, skill, wisdom, or ability of speech which we have, or other honest and advantageous circumstances which present themselves unto us, as the apostle Paul did on all occasions; but our dependence is to be solely on the presence and supplies of our blessed Advocate, who will not suffer us to be utterly defective in what is necessary unto the defence and justification of our cause.