Father, or any power in the Lord Jesus Christ, there shall be " a gathering of sinners to our adorable Shiloh." The rich and powerful, as well as the poor and weak, shall turn unto him ; they shall submit to his government, and devote themselves to his glory.
The other ground, on which the increase and ag- grandizement of Christ's kingdom may be expected, is the intercession of Christ; " Therefore will I divide him a portion, because he made intercession for the trans- gressors." The intercession of Christ was that part of his work which he was to carry on in heaven, after he should have finished the work which was com- mitted to him on earth. The high-priest, who typi- cally represented Christ, was first to kill the sacrifice, then to carry the blood within the vail, and sprinkle it upon the mercy-seat, and then to burn incense before the mercy-seat : nor, till this last ceremony was performed, was the rest of any avail : it was not till after he had covered the mercy-seat with the clouds of incense, that he had any authority to bless the people. Thus was our Lord, not only to offer himself as a sacrifice for sin, and to enter into heaven with his own blood, but he was to make intercession for us at the right hand of God. This was stipulated between the Father and him as one part of the condition, on which the conversion of sinners was to depend; " Ask of me, and I will give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the utmost parts of the earth for thy possession1." Now the prophet, seeing this part of Christ's office, as it were, already fulfilled, declares its efficacy towards the salvation of men, and represents it as another ground for the performance of the Father's promise. In this view the intercession of Christ is often mentioned in the Holy Scriptures. It is put altogether on a par with the death of Christ as the procuring cause of our salvation : it is said, " He died for our sins, and was raised again for our justifica- tion15." In one place a decided preference is given to it, as being, if possible, even more influential toward the acceptance of men than the death of Christ itself;
j Ps. ii. 8. * Rom. iv. 25.
976.] fruits of Christ's death. 431
" Who is he that condemneth ? it is Christ that died, yea, rather that is risen again, who also maketh inter- cession for us1." His death is spoken of as effecting nothing without ; " If Christ be not risen, we are yet in our sins ; and they, who are fallen asleep in Christ, are perished m :" nor is this all : his sufficiency for the wants and necessities of his people is represented as turning upon this hinge, and as standing altogether upon this ground ; " He is able to save to the utter- most all that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for the?}in." Let his inter- cession then be considered in this view : did the Father hear him always when he was on earth, and will he not hear him now that he is in heaven ? Did Moses, a sinner like ourselves, arrest, as it were, the arm of Omnipotence, and avert God's vengeance from the idolatrous Jews0, and shall not the prayers of Jesus prevail for us ? Did the efficacy of his inter- cession appear on the day of Pentecost in the conversion of thousands, and shall it not be further manifested in the salvation of all whose cause he pleads ? Surely, if we have but faith to believe, we may already see " the glory of the Lord risen upon the Church, and the Gentiles coming to her light, and kings to the brightness of her rising."
Let us then learn from this subject two things ; the importance of Christ's mediation, and the security of all who are interested in it —