Chapter V
The prevalency of Christ s intercession, and the powerful influence it hath into
our salvation, demonstrated, first, from the greatness of Christ, and his
favour with God.
2. Thus we have heard what matter of support to our faith, by way of
evidence, this must needs afford, that Christ intercedes. Let us consider now what further assurance will arise to our faith, from the influence which
Christ s intercession must needs have, to effect and carry on our salvation
to an assured issue. The work of intercession being effectually to procure our salvation, and to continue the pardon of our sins, and hold us in favour with God, therefore the influence and energy it hath herein must needs lie
in that potency and prevalency which this intercession of Christ hath with
God, to obtain anything at his hands for us, and so to continue his favour towards us. Now, to raise up our apprehensions how potent and prevalent this intercession of Christ must needs be, let us consider both the Person
interceding, namely, Christ ; and the Person with whom Christ intercedes for
this favour, which is God ; the one the Son, the other the Father ; and so
the greatness of Christ with God, and the graciousness of God to Christ,
together with the oneness of wills and unity of affections in them both : so
that Christ will be sure to ask nothing which his Father will deny, and his Father will not deny anything which he shall ask.
(1.) Now, first, for the greatness of Christ the Intercessor, that is, his
greatness with God the Father. This is often urged in this epistle to the
Hebrews, to persuade confidence in us, in this very point in hand ; thus, Heb. iv. 14, 16, Seeing we have a great high priest, let us come boldly. And whilst great and priest are thus joined together, the more comfort and boldness we may have, the greater he is ; for he is a priest in relation to
his dealing with God for our pardon. As he is a priest, he deals in nothing else ; and the greater the person is who useth his interest herein, the
better, the sooner he will prevail. And he is there said to be great, because
great with God, in prevailing with him ; and indeed so great, as it is im
possible but he should prevail. It was the greatness of his person which
did and doth put such an influence into his death, that it was, as you heard, a price more than enough to satisfy justice, even to overflowing. And
therefore, Who shall condemn ? It is Christ that died. And the great ness of his person must needs have as much influence to make intercession
72 THE TRIUMPH OF FAITH [SECT. V-
prevalent. In a matter of intercession, the person that intercedes prevails more than any other consideration whatsoever. We see what great friends do procure oftentimes with but a word speaking, even that which money,
no, nor anything could have obtained. Now Christ must needs be great with God in many respects.
[1.] First, in respect of the nearness of his alliance to him. He is the
natural Son of God, God of God, and therefore certain to prevail with him.
This is diligently still put in, almost in all places, where this part of his
priesthood (his intercession) is mentioned, in the Epistle to the Hebrews. So in chap. iv. of the same Epistle, ver. 14, We have a great high priest entered into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God. So Heb. vii. 25, and 28th
verse compared, the apostle having said, ver. 25, that he is able to save to
the utmost, seeing he ever lives to make intercession, he doth, ver. 28^ devolve this ability of his to save (ultimately) upon his being the Son ; thus in
the 28th verse, in the end of that discourse, this is made as the basis of all : The law (saith he) makes men high priests which have infirmity, which
infirmity or disability of theirs is mentioned in opposition unto what he had
just before spoken of the great ability of this our high priest in his inter
ceding, ver. 25, in those words, He is able to save to the utmost. Those
priests whom the ceremonial law made, Aaron and his sons, are unable to
save, they have infirmity. Now what is it in him that makes this difference, and him so able above what they were ? The word of the oath makes, the Son (says he), who is perfected (as you have it in the Greek and margin) for evermore. He mentions this his sonship principally in relation to his
intercession, which there he had discoursed of. Intercession is a carrying on our salvation in a way of grace and favour, as his death was by way of
satisfaction.
And answerably it may be observed in the Scripture, that as the all-suffi
ciency of the satisfaction of his death is still put upon his being God ; and so upon the greatness of his person considered in respect of his nature or
essence, namely, his Godhead ; so in like manner, that the prevalency of
his intercession is founded upon the nearness of his relation unto God, his
alliance to him, and the being his Son. Thus for the first. When redemp tion is spoken of, the sufficiency of the price is eminently put upon his God
head, the blood of God. Thus also, Heb. ix., where when he had (ver. 12) shewn how Christ had purchased and obtained a perfect redemption, he then argues the sufficiency of it from his Godhead, ver. 13, 14, For if
the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the
unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh ; how much more shall the
blood, of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself? &c. The
eternal Spirit is his Godhead. Thus answerably, when he speaks of the
prevailing of his intercession in heaven, he puts it upon his sonship ; Jesus the Son. He mentions the nearness of the relation of his person to God, as being that which draws with it that great respect, and favour, and grace, he being by this great with God, as great in himself. All matters of inter
cession are carried, we know, by way of favour. And therefore look how
prevalent in a way of merit his being God makes his death in its kind ; no
less prevalent doth his being the Son of God make his intercession in its
kind, namely, in a way of obtaining grace and mercy ; yea, so prevalent of
itself it is, that we might build upon it alone, even as much as upon his
death. And, indeed, Christ intercedes not only in the virtue and strength of his satisfaction, though in that also, and of his obedience to his Father but also in the strength of his relation as a Son who pleads his own grace
CHAP. V.] FROM CHRIST S INTERCESSION. 73
and interest in God, as he is his Son, which is a consideration that doth
always actually exist and abide. Whereas his obedience, though perfect, was but once offered up, and its existence is but virtual ; but he continues
a Son for ever, not virtually only, but actually. And therefore it is added
in that 7th to the Hebrews, ver. 28, that the gospel ordained the Son,
perfected for ever. The meaning whereof is, that he is not only a priest,
perfected in the time past by that perfect offering once made, but in that he
is the Son, he remains a perfect priest for ever, for time to come ; whom
therefore no imperfection in his office, no failing or missing of his suits can
befall. So as if it could be supposed that his obedience, because past so
long ago, might be forgotten ; yet never this, that he is a Son. That for
ever abides, and of itself were enough to prevail. And how effectual must
the intercession of such a Son be, who is so great a Son of so great a Father,
equal with him, and the express image of his person ? Never any Son so
like, and in so peculiarly a transcendent manner a Son, as the relation of
sonship among men is but a shadow of it ! Christ is one with his Father, as himself often speaks ; and, therefore, if his Father should deny him any
thing, he should then cease to be one with him, he must then deny him
self, which God can never do. He is in this respect the Beloved, as he
is called, Eph. i. 6, as on whom (originally and primarily) all the beams of God s love do fall. Solomon (the type of Christ) was the beloved of God, 2 Sam. xii. 24, and had his name from thence (namely) Jedidiah, that is,
* beloved of the Lord. And to shew how beloved he was, God, when he came first into his kingdom, bade him
* ask what he should give him, 1 Kings iii. 5. Now the like God says to Christ, when come first to his
Jdngdom, also, Ps. ii. 8, Ask of me, and I will give thee, namely, when he had set him as King on his holy hill, ver. 6 ; and of him he says,
* This
is my well-beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, hear him. God bids us therefore and upon that respect to hear him ; and that speech was but
the echo of his own heart, in that he himself is so well pleased with him for
this that he is his Son, as he himself will hear him in everything ; yea, and
is so pleased with him, as that although Christ had never died nor obeyed the law, yet simply because he is his Son, he hath so full an acquiescency of all desires in him, and complacency of delights, that he could deny him
nothing. How prevalent then must Christ s intercession needs be, though there were nothing else to be considered ! And that God had indeed this as one main consideration upon which he made him a priest thus to intercede, those words do testify, Heb. v. 5, 6, He that said unto him, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee. As he saith also in another place, Thou art a priest for ever, after the order
of Melchisedec. These latter words are not only a paraphrase (as some
think) merely to shew that he that said, Christ was his Son, said also, he was a priest ; but it is to shew the foundation of his call to that office. The great consideration that fitted him for it was, that he was God s Son ;
especially that fitted him for that part of his priesthood which was to remain for ever, of which that 110th Psalm and the Epistle to the Hebrews do especially speak. Neither is the meaning of the fore-cited place only to shew that in that he was God s Son, it was his birthright to be a priest, so
as if God would have any priest at all it must be he, and so, upon that con
sideration, he that said to him, Thou art my Son, said, Thou art a
priest ; and that being his right, he therefore called him to it, because he was his Son, for, according to the law of nature, the eldest of the family was to be priest ; and so Christ, even as God-man, being the first-born of
74 THE TKIUMPH OF FAITH [SECT. V.
every creature, and the natural first begotten Son of God, had right to be
the prime leader of that great chorus in that eternal worship in heaven. That (I say) is not all the meaning of those words, nor all that God consi dered in it, when he thus ordained him to be a priest ; but he had a further and more peculiar respect unto this especial part of his priesthood, his inter
* for ever imports), as for which, he being his natural
cession (as that clause
Son, so nearly allied to him, would transcendently fit him, and give such an omnipotent prevalency and effectualness to his requests, that he would be the most absolute perfect priest for ever, in this respect, that could be. That as God himself is perfect, and his power irresistible, so his priesthood, through this relation, might be perfect also, and his requests undeniable. Thus did God order it to strengthen our faith. And that, indeed, God did
consider this relation of his to him to this very end, is evident by that of
* Thou art my Son, is cited, ver. 7 and 8, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee ; and what fol lows ? Ask of me, and I will give thee, &c. He connects both these
the 2d Psalm, out of which that saying,
together, namely, intercession, that part of his priestly office of asking, with
his sonship, for that is it which moveth God to grant all that he asks. God loves Christ as he loves himself, and therefore can deny him nothing, as he cannot deny himself. And so, by the way, this clears the ground of
the apostle s quoting those words of Ps. ii. in Heb. v., as a proof of Christ s
call to the priesthood, which interpreters have been troubled how to make
* Thou art my Son, ask, &c., is
out ; for (as you have seen) that speech,
* Thou art a priest ; and so was as fit and full a
all one as if he had said,
place to prove his being a priest in the Holy Ghost s intent, as is that other
quoted with it, out of Ps. ex., though uttered in more express words, Thou art a priest for ever. Both speeches come to one in both places, the Holy Ghost especially aiming in both at that part of his priesthood in
heaven, his intercession : in the one speaking of him after he is set upon God s hill as king (so Ps. ii. ver. 6) ; and in the other, after he is set down
at God s right hand (so Ps. ex. ver. 1, 2). Yea, and this his favour with
his Father, and intercession alone, might have procured pardon for us sin
ners, but that God s will was to have justice satisfied.
[2.] And secondly, he intercedes not only as a Son (and in that respect a priest perfect enough for ever), but also as a Son who hath been obedient
to his Father, and hath done at his request, and for his sake, the greatest service for him, and the most willingly that ever was done. And you all know how much former services done do always forward suits. In Heb.
v. ver. 8, 9. 10, it is said, that though he were a Son, yet learned he
* became perfect. The apostle had said, in the
obedience, and thereby
verses before, that in respect of his being his Son, God had called him to
this office, as one that was thereby sufficiently qualified to be a priest that
might prevail ; and yet in these verses he further adds, that though he was a Son, and in that respect a priest perfect enough, yet he was to be obe
dient also, and thereby yet to become, in a further respect, a perfect high
priest also, even in respect of service done and obedience performed. And
so shews that he comes to have a further perfection and power of prevailing in his priestly office added to that relation of sonship spoken of, ver. 5. And therefore it follows, that he being thus become perfect, namely, through his obedience, he became author of eternal salvation unto all them that
obey him, called of God an high priest for ever, &c. That therefore which makes him yet more potent, that he may be sure to prevail, is his obedience and service done ; and this alone also were enough to cany anything. And
CHAP. V.] FROM CHRIST S INTERCESSION. 75
both these considerations, of his sonship and obedience, as giving an efficacy to his intercession, you have also in that, Heb. vii. From ver. 26 to 28, he had spoken of the power of intercession, ver. 24, 25, how he was
* able to save to the utmost ; and then, in the following verse, he shews the ground of it, first in his fore-past
* obedience, ver. 26. First, active,
* for such a
high priest became us, who was holy, harmless, undefiled. And such* a
priest he was, and therefore able thus to save by his intercession. For such an one who was holy, harmless, and no guile found in his mouth, what requests come out of such lips must needs be accepted. Then, secondly, he mentions his passive obedience, ver. 27,
* He offered up himself once, and thereby made so full a satisfaction, as he needed not to do it but once ; and in the strength of both these he intercedes, for to that purpose doth the mention of both these there come in. And then he adds that other which we before insisted on, that he|is the Son, which follows in the next
words, ver. 28. And accordingly you shall find Christ himself urging this
his obedience, as the foundation of all those his suits and requests for us that follow after. So in that last prayer, John xvii. (which is, as it were, a
pattern or instance of his intercession for us in heaven), I have glorified thee on earth, I have finished the work thou gavest me, ver. 4. And whereas two things may be distinctly considered, in that his obedience.
First, the worth of it, as a price in the valuation of justice itself; secondly, the desert of favour and grace with God ; which such an obedience and
service, done for his sake, might in a way of kindness expect to find at his hands. You may for your comfort consider, that besides what the worth of it as a price, which I shall urge in the next chapter, might exact of jus tice itself between two strangers (as we use to say), he having well paid for
all that he asks ; he hath, moreover, deserved thus much grace and favour with his Father, in that this obedience was done for his sake and at his
request ; and this it calls for even in way of remuneration and requital, as of one kindness with the like. That therefore his Father should hear him
in all the requests that ever he should make, yea so transcendent was the obedience which he did to his Father, in giving himself to death at his
request (and it was done at God s sole entreaty, Lo ! I come to do thy will ), as he can never out-ask the merit of this his service. And, which which may yet further encourage us herein, he hath nothing at all left to ask for himself simply, for he hath need of nothing. So that all his favour remains entire, for to be laid forth for sinners, and employed for them. And then add this thereto, that all he can ask for them is less, yea far less, than the service which he hath done to God comes to ; our lives, and par don, and salvation, these are not enough, they are too small a requital. So that besides his natural grace and interest which he hath with his Father, as he is his Son, which can never be lessened, this his acquired favour by his obedience must needs make him prevail, seeing it can never be
acquitted to the full. Some divines put so much efficacy in this, that they
say, Christ s very being in heaven, who once did this service, and so putting God in mind of it by his very presence, is all that intercession that the
Scripture speaks of ; so sufficient they think this alone to be.
76 THE TRIUMPH OF FAITH [SECT. V.