Works of John Bunyan Volume I Part 66

20 In the first edition of this treatise, this quotation is from Joshua 3:4, an error which has been continued through every edition to the present one.-ED.

21 "A demur"; now called a demurrer, is when a defect or legal difficulty is discovered, which must first be settled by the judge before the action or proceedings can be carried on.-ED.

22 How consoling a reflection is this to the distressed soul, "Christ never lost a cause." "Him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out." "They shall never perish; nor shall any pluck them out of my hand" (John 10:28)-ED.

23 "Nonsuit"; the giving up a suit upon the discovery of some fatal error or defect in the cause.-ED.

24 There is no night in heaven; it is one eternal day; no need of rest or sleep. Christ ever liveth to make intercession for us.-ED.

25 The marginal readings which are found in our venerable version of the Bible are very interesting, both to the unlearned and to the scholar. They often throw a light upon the Scripture. For "and make him honourable," see Bishop Patrick and Dr. Gill's annotations.-ED.

26 To draw back from, or in, our dependence upon Christ for salvation, is a distinction which every despairing backslider should strive to understand. The total abandonment of Christianity is perdition, while he who is overcome of evil may yet repent to the salvation of the soul.-ED.

27 "Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him." He punishes but to restore them in his own time to the paths of peace.-ED.

28 How full of sweet consolation is this spiritual exposition of the Levitical law. It was a type or shadow of good things which were to come. Bunyan possessed a heavenly store of these apt ill.u.s.trations.-ED.

29 "Branglings"; noisy quarrels or squabbles. "The payment of t.i.thes is subject to many brangles."-Swift. It is now obsolete, and is subst.i.tuted by wranglings.-ED.

30 The poor backslider "is blind and cannot see afar off"; this does not affect his t.i.tle, but is fatal to any present prospect of the enjoyment of his inheritance.-ED.

31 Every sin, however comparatively small, drives us to the mediation of Christ, but it is under a sense of great sins that we feel how precious he is as an Advocate.-ED.

32 What can we render to the Lord? is an inquiry perpetually fostered by the pride that clings to every believer. The world, and all things in it, are his already. We must, as poor trembling beggars, "take the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord,"-rely upon his free gift of a full salvation. All must be done for us gratis, or we must perish. Yes, proud sinner, you must sue as a pauper, or you can never succeed.-ED.

33 In the form of a pauper, one who has nothing to pay with, but is living upon alms.-ED.

34 This Greek word is only once translated "advocate" in the New Testament; but it is used in the Gospel by John (14, 15, 16), and translated Comforter, and applied to the Holy Spirit. Thus, the Holy Ghost is to the Christian [the Greek word ] a monitor or comforter; and our ascended Lord is [the Greek word ] the advocate before his Father's throne. Both are our counsel-the Spirit to guide, the Saviour to defend, the saints.-ED.

35 The Bible is the only perspective gla.s.s by which we can know futurity, and see things that, to carnal eyes, are invisible.-ED.

36 "Ingenuity"; ingenuousness, frankness, candour, generosity: now obsolete in this sense.-ED.

37 "Rovers"; without any definite aim. "Nature shoots not at rovers."-Glanville.-ED

CHRIST A COMPLETE SAVIOUR:

OR,

THE INTERCESSION OF CHRIST, AND WHO ARE PRIVILEGED IN IT.

BY JOHN BUNYAN

Advertis.e.m.e.nt by the Editor.

However strange it may appear, it is a solemn fact, that the heart of man, unless prepared by a sense of the exceeding sinfulness of sin, rejects Christ as a complete Saviour. The pride of human nature will not suffer it to fall, as helpless and utterly undone, into the arms of Divine mercy. Man prefers a partial Saviour; one who had done so much, that, with the sinner's aid, the work might be completed. No such were the opinions of John Bunyan; the furnace of sharp conviction had burnt up this proud dross; he believed the testimony of Scripture, that from the crown of the head to the soles of the feet all nature is corrupted; so that out of the unsanctified heart of man proceed evil thoughts, murders, and the sad catalogue of crimes which our Lord enumerates, and which defile our best efforts after purity of heart and life. No sinner will ever totally rely upon the Saviour until he is sensible of his own perishing state; hanging by the brittle thread of life over the yawning gulf of perdition; sinking in that sin which will swallow him up in those awful torments which await the transgressor; feeling that sin has fitted him as stubble for the fire; then it is that the cry proceeds from his heart, Lord, save, I perish; and then, and not till then, are we made willing to receive 'Christ as a complete Saviour' to the uttermost, not of his ability, but of our necessity. This was the subject of all Mr. Bunyan's writings, and, doubtless, of all his preaching. It was to direct sinners to the Lamb of G.o.d, who alone can take away sin. This little treatise was one of those ten 'excellent ma.n.u.scripts' which, at Bunyan's decease, were found prepared for the press. It was first published in 1692, by his friends E. Chandler, J. Wilson, and C. Doe.

It is limited to a subject which is too often lost sight of, because it is within the veil--the intercession of Christ as the finishing work of a sinner's salvation. Many persons limit the 'looking unto Jesus' to beholding him upon the cross, a common popish error; but this is not enough; we must, in our minds, follow him to the unseen world, and thus ascend to a risen Saviour, at the right hand of the Father, making intercession for our daily sins. And he is our ONLY Intercessor, and it is a rejection of him, for us to seek the aid of another. Who ever was mad enough to ask Moses to intercede for him, and surely he is as able as Mary or any other saint? To atone for sin calls for the amazing price of the blood of Christ, who was 'G.o.d manifest in the flesh.' He undertook the work by covenant; and all the 'saved' form part of his mystical body; thus perfectly obeying the law in him. He poured out his life to open a fountain for sin and uncleanness; and as they are liable to pollution in their pa.s.sage through the world, he only is able, and he ever liveth, to make intercession for their transgressions. Thus he becomes a complete Saviour, and will crown, with an eternal weight of glory, all those that put their trust in him. Beautiful, and soul-softening, and heart-warming thoughts abound in this little work, which cannot fail to make a lasting impression upon the reader.

Bunyan disclaims 'the beggarly art of complimenting' in things of such solemnity. He describes the heart as unweldable, a remarkable expression, drawn from his father's trade of a blacksmith; nothing but grace can so heat it as to enable the hammer of conviction to weld it to Christ; and when thus welded, it becomes one with him.

There is hope for a returning backslider in a complete Saviour; he combines the evidence of two men, the coming and the returning sinner; he has been, like Jonah, in the belly of h.e.l.l; his sins, like talking devils, have driven him back to the Saviour. Sin brings its own punishment, from which we escape by keeping in the narrow path. Good works save us from temporal miseries, which ever follow an indulgence in sin; but if we fall, we have an Advocate and Intercessor to lift us up; still, if thou lovest thy soul, slight not the knowledge of h.e.l.l, for that, with the law, are the spurs which Christ useth to p.r.i.c.k souls forward to himself. O gather up thy heels and mend thy pace, or those spurs will be in thy sides.

Take heed, O persecutor; like Saul, thou art exceeding mad, and h.e.l.l is thy bedlam. Take heed of a false faith; none is true but that which is acquired by a kneeling, searching, seeking for truth as for hid treasure. Death is G.o.d's bailiff, he will seize thee without warning; but with the saints, the grave's mouth is the final parting place between grace and sin. Forget not that a good improvement will make your little grace to thrive. Reader, may Divine grace indelibly fix these wholesome truths upon our minds.

GEORGE OFFOR.

CHRIST A COMPLETE SAVIOUR.

'WHEREFORE HE IS ABLE ALSO TO SAVE THEM TO THE UTTERMOST THAT COME UNTO G.o.d BY HIM, SEEING HE EVER LIVETH TO MAKE INTERCESSION FOR THEM.'--HEBREWS 7:25.

The apostle, in this chapter, presenteth us with two things; that is, with the greatness of the person and of the priesthood of our Lord Jesus.

First, He presenteth us with the greatness of his person, in that he preferreth him before Abraham, who is the father of us all; yea, in that he preferreth him before Melchisedec, who was above Abraham, and blessed him who had the promises.

Second, As to his priesthood, he showeth the greatness of that, in that he was made a priest, not by the law of a carnal commandment, but by the power of an endless life. Not without, but with an oath, by him that said, 'The Lord sware, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever, after the order of Melchisedec'; wherefore, 'this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood.'

Now my text is drawn from this conclusion, namely, that Christ abideth a priest continually. 'Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto G.o.d by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.'

In the words, I take notice of four things: FIRST, Of the intercession of Christ--He maketh intercession. SECOND, Of the benefit of his intercession--'Wherefore he is able to save to the uttermost,' &c.

THIRD, We have also here set before us the persons interested in this intercession of Christ--And they are those 'that come unto G.o.d by him.' FOURTH, We have also here the certainty of their reaping this benefit by him; to wit, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them--'Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto G.o.d by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.' 1

[I. OF THE INTERCESSION OF CHRIST.]

FIRST, We will begin with HIS INTERCESSION, and will show you, First, What that is; Second, For what he intercedes; and, Third, What is also to be inferred from Christ's making intercession for us.

First, I begin, then, with the first; that is, to show you what intercession is. Intercession is prayer; but all prayer is not intercession. Intercession, then, is that prayer that is made by a third person about the concerns that are between two. And it may be made either to set them at further difference, or to make them friends; for intercession may be made against, as well as for, a person or people. 'Wot ye not what the Scripture saith of Elias?

how he maketh intercession to G.o.d against Israel.' (Rom 11:2) But the intercession that we are now to speak of is not an intercession of this kind, not an intercession against, but an intercession for a people. 'He ever liveth to make intercession for them.' The high priest is ordained for, but not to be against the people. 'Every high priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to G.o.d,' to make reconciliation for the sins of the people; or 'that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins.'

(Heb 5:1) This, then, is intercession; and the intercession of Christ is to be between two, between G.o.d and man, for man's good.

And it extendeth itself unto these: 1. To pray that the elect may be brought all home to him; that is, to G.o.d. 2. To pray that their sins committed after conversion may be forgiven them. 3. To pray that their graces which they receive at conversion may be maintained and supplied. 4. To pray that their persons may be preserved unto his heavenly kingdom.

Second, This is the intercession of Christ, or that for which he doth make intercession.

1. He prays for all the elect, that they may be brought home to G.o.d, and so into the unity of the faith, &c. this is clear, for that he saith, 'Neither pray I for these alone'; that is, for those only that are converted; 'but for them also which shall believe on me through their word'; for all them that shall, that are appointed to believe; or, as you have it a little above, 'for them which thou hast given me.' (John 17:9,20, Isa 53:12) And the reason is, for that he hath paid a ransom for them. Christ, therefore, when he maketh intercession for the unG.o.dly, and all the unconverted elect are such, doth but pet.i.tionarily ask for his own, his purchased ones, those for whom he died before, that they might be saved by his blood.

2. When any of them are brought home to G.o.d, he yet prays for them; namely, that the sins which through infirmity they, after conversion, may commit, may also be forgiven them.

This is showed us by the intercession of the high priest under the law, that was to bear away the iniquities of the holy things of the children of Israel; yea, and also by his atonement for them that sinned; for that it saith, 'And the priest shall make an atonement for him, for his sin which he hath sinned, and it shall be forgiven him.' (Lev 5:10) This also is intimated even where our Lord doth make intercession, saying, 'I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.' (John 17:15) That Christ prayed that the converted should be kept from all manner of commission of sin, must not be supposed, for that is the way to make his intercession, at least in some things, invalid, and to contradict himself; for, saith he, 'I know that thou hearest me always.' (John 11:42) But the meaning is, I pray that thou wouldest keep them from soul-d.a.m.ning delusions, such as are unavoidably such; also that thou wouldest keep them from the soul-destroying evil of every sin, of ever temptation. Now this he doth by his prevailing and by his pardoning grace.

3. In his intercession he prayeth also that those graces which we receive at conversion may be maintained and supplied. This is clear where he saith, 'Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat; but I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not.' (Luke 22:31,32) Ay, may some say, he is said to pray here for the support and supply of faith, but doth it therefore follow that he prayed for the maintaining and supply of all our graces? Yes, in that he prayed for the preservation of our faith, he prayed for the preservation of all our graces; for faith is the mother grace, the root grace, the grace that hath all others in the bowels of it, and that from the which all others flow; yea, it is that which gives being to all our other graces, and that by which all the rest do live. Let, then, faith be preserved, and all graces continue and live--that is, according to the present state, health, and degree of faith. So, then, Christ prayed for the preservation of every grace when he prayed for the preservation of faith. That text also is of the same tendency where he saith, 'Keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given men.' (John 17:11) Keep them in thy fear, in the faith, in the true religion, in the way of life by thy grace, by thy power, by thy wisdom, &c.

This must be much of the meaning of this place, and he that excludes this sense will make but poor work of another exposition.

4. He also in his intercession prayeth that our persons be preserved, and brought safe unto his heavenly kingdom. And this he doth, (1.) By pleading interest in them. (2.) By pleading that he had given, by promise, glory to them. (3.) By pleading his own resolution to have it so. (4.) By pleading the reason why it must be so.

(1.) He prays that their persons may come to glory, for that they are his, and that by the best of t.i.tles: 'Thine they were, and thou gavest them me.' (John 17:6) Father, I will have them; Father, I will have them, for they are mine: 'Thine they were, and thou gavest them me.' What is mine, my wife, or my child, or my jewel, or my joy, sure I may have it with me. Thus, therefore, he pleads or cries in his intercession, that our persons might be preserved to glory: They are mine, 'and thou gavest them me.'2

(2.) He also pleads that he had given--given already, that is, in the promise--glory to them, and therefore they must not go without it. 'And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them.' (John 17:22) Righteous men, when they give a good thing by promise, they design the performance of that promise; nay, they more than design it, they purpose, they determine it. As the mad prophet also saith of G.o.d, in another case, 'Hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?' (Num 23:19) Hath Christ given us glory, and shall we not have it? Yea, hath the truth itself bestowed it upon us, and shall those to whom it is given, even given by Scripture of truth, be yet deprived thereof?

(3.) He pleads in his interceding that they might have glory; his own resolution to have it so. 'Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am.' (John 17:24) Behold ye here, he is resolved to have it so. It must be so. It shall be so. I will have it so. We read of Adonijah, that his father never denied him in anything. He never said to him, 'Why hast thou done so?' (1 Kings 1:6) Indeed, he denied him the kingdom; for his brother was heir of that from the Lord. How much more will our Father let our Lord Jesus have his mind and will in this, since he also is as willing to have it so as is the Son himself. 'Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.' (Luke 12:32) Resolution will drive things far, especially resolution to do that which none but they that cannot hinder shall oppose. Why this is the case, the resolution of our Intercessor is, that we be preserved to glory; yea, and this resolution he pleads in his intercession: 'Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am,' &c. (John 17:24) Must it not, therefore, now be so?

(4.) He also, in the last place, in this his intercession, urges a reason why he will have it so, namely, 'That they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me; for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.' (verse 24) And this is a reason to the purpose; it is as if he had said, Father, these have continued with me in my temptations; these have seen me under all my disadvantages; these have seen me in my poor, low, contemptible condition; these have seen what scorn, reproach, slanders, and disgrace I have borne for thy sake in the world; and now I will have them also be where they shall see me in my glory. I have told them that I am thy Son, and they have believed that; I have told them that thou lovest me, and they have believed that; I have also told them that thou wouldest take me again to glory, and they have believed that; but they have not seen my glory, nor can they but be like the Queen of Sheba, they will but believe by the halves unless their own eyes do behold it. Besides, Father, these are they that love me, and it will be an increase of their joy if they may but see me in glory; it will be as a heaven to their hearts to see their Saviour in glory. I will, therefore, that those which 'thou hast given me be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory.' This, therefore, is a reason why Christ Jesus our Lord intercedes to have his people with him in glory.