G. A. Henty - "On the Pampas"

Louisa May Alcott - "A Modern Cinderella"

Kathleen Hay - "The Quest of Happy Hearts"

Louis Stone - "Jonah"

New Philadelphia Book Publisher Highlights Local Talent
Book and Publishing News from Publishers Newswire(tm)

Looking for Child to be on Cover of a New Book, 'The Model Child'
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. -- The Philadelphia literary world will celebrate the launch of two new players today, April 10th: Kay Square Press, a new publishing company focused on Philadelphia-area artists, their stories, and their art; and Kay Square's first release, 'With the Rich and Mighty: Emlen Etting of Philadelphia' (ISBN: 978-0-9815129-0-7), a critical biography by Kenneth C. Kaleta.

FlatSigned Press Alleges Don Imus Remarks Damage Legacy of President Gerald R. Ford
NEW YORK, N.Y. -- Nathan Yungerberg, an accomplished model scout and professional child photographer is launching a nation-wide casting call to find the cover model for his highly anticipated book release, 'The Model Child: A Parents Guide to the Child Modeling Industry' (ISBN: 978-0-9817018-0-6).

Books: The Works of John Bunyan Volume 1

J >> John Bunyan >> The Works of John Bunyan Volume 1




[WHEREIN CHRIST'S OFFICE AS ADVOCATE DOTH LIE.]

FIRST, To begin with the first of these-namely, to show you more
particularly of Christ's office as an Advocate, and wherein it lieth;
the which I shall do these three ways-First, Touch again upon the
nature of this office; and then, Second, Treat of the order and
place that it hath among the rest of his offices; and, Third, Treat
of the occasion of the execution of this office.

First, To touch upon the nature of this office. It is that which
empowereth a man to plead for a man, or one man to plead for another;
not in common discourses, and upon common occasions, as any man may
do, but at a bar, or before a court of judicature, where a man is
accused or impleaded by his enemy; I say, this Advocate's office
is such, both here, and in the kingdom of heaven. An advocate is as
one of our attorneys, at least in the general, who pleads according
to law and justice for one or other that is in trouble by reason of
some miscarriage, or of the naughty temper of some that are about
him, who trouble and vex, and labour to bring him into danger of
the law. This is the nature of this office, as I said, on earth;
and this is the office that Christ executeth in heaven. Wherefore
he saith, "If any man sin, we have an Advocate"; one to stand up
for him, and to plead for his deliverance before the bar of God.
(Joel 3:2. Isa 66:16. Eze 38:22. Jer 2.)

For though in some places of Scripture Christ is said to plead
for his with men, and that by terrible arguments, as by fire, and
sword, and famine, and pestilence, yet this is not that which is
intended by this text; for the apostle here saith, he is an Advocate
with the Father, or before the Father, to plead for those that
there, or that to the Father's face, shall be accused for their
transgressions: "If any man sin, we have an Advocate with the
Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." So, then, this is the employ
of Jesus Christ as he is for us, an Advocate. He has undertaken
to stand up for his people at God's bar, and before that great
court, there to plead, by the law and justice of heaven, for their
deliverance; when, for their faults, they are accused, indicted,
or impleaded by their adversary.

Second. And now to treat of the order or place that this office of
Christ hath among the rest of his offices, which he doth execute
for us while we are here in a state of imperfection; and I think
it is an office that is to come behind as a reserve, or for a help
at last, when all other means shall seem to fail. Men do not use
to go to law upon every occasion; or if they do, the wisdom of the
judge, the jury, and the court will not admit that every brangle
and foolish quarrel shall come before them; but an Advocate doth
then come into place, and then to the exercise of his office, when
a cause is counted worthy to be taken notice of by the judge and
by the court. Wherefore he, I say, comes in the last place, as a
reserve, or help at last, to plead; and, by pleading, to set that
right by law which would otherwise have caused an increase to more
doubts, and to further dangers.

Christ, as priest, doth always works of service for us, because
in our most spiritual things there may faults and spots be found,
and these he taketh away of course, by the exercise of that office;
for he always wears that plate of gold upon his forehead before
the Father, whereon is written, "Holiness to the Lord." But now,
besides these common infirmities, there are faults that are highly
gross and foul, that oft are found in the skirts of the children
of God. Now, there are they that Satan taketh hold on; these are
they that Satan draweth up a charge against us for; and to save us
from these, it is, that the Lord Jesus is made an Advocate. When
Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, then Satan stood at his
right hand to resist him; then the angel of the covenant, the Lord
Jesus, pleaded for his help (Zech 3). By all which it appears,
that this office comes behind, is provided as a reserve, that we
may have help at a pinch, and then be lifted out, when we sink in
mire, where there is no standing.

This is yet further hinted at by the several postures that Christ
is said to be in, as he exerciseth his priestly and advocate's
office. As a Priest, he sits; as an Advocate, he stands (Isa 3:13).
The Lord stands up when he pleads; his sitting is more constant and
of course (Sit thou, Psa 110:1,4), but his standing is occasional,
when Joshua is indicted, or when hell and earth are broken loose
against his servant Stephen. For as Joshua was accused by the
devil, and as then the angel of the Lord stood by, so when Stephen
was accused by men on earth, and that charge seconded by the fallen
angels before the face of God, it is said, "the Lord Jesus stood
on the right hand of God," (Acts 7:55)-to wit, to plead; for so I
take it, because standing is his posture as an Advocate, not as a
Priest; for, as a Priest, he must sit down; but he standeth as an
Advocate, as has been showed afore (Heb 10:12). Wherefore,

Third. The occasion of his exercising of this office of advocate
is, as hath been hinted already, when a child of God shall be found
guilty before God of some heinous sin, of some grievous thing in
his life and conversation. For as for those infirmities that attend
the best, in their most spiritual sacrifices; if a child of God
were guilty of ten thousand of them, they are of course purged,
through the much incense that is always mixed with those sacrifices
in the golden censer that is in the hand of Christ; and so he is
kept clean, and counted upright, notwithstanding those infirmities;
and, therefore, you shall find that, notwithstanding those common faults,
the children of God are counted good and upright in conversation,
and not charged as offenders. "David," saith the text, "did that
which was right in the eyes of the Lord, and turned not aside from
any thing that he commanded him, all the days of his life, save
only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite" (I Kings 15:5). But was
David, in a strict sense, without fault in all things else? No,
verily; but that was foul in a higher degree than the rest, and
therefore there God sets a blot; ay, and doubtless for that he was
accused by Satan before the throne of God; for here is adultery,
and murder, and hypocrisy, in David's doings; here is notorious
matter, a great sin, and so a great ground for Satan to draw up
an indictment against the king; and a thundering one, to be sure,
shall be preferred against him. This is the time, then, for Christ
to stand up to plead; for now there is room for such a question-Can
David's sin stand with grace? Or, Is it possible that a man that
has done as he has, should yet be found a saint, and so in a saved
state? Or, Can God repute him so, and yet be holy and just? or,
Can the merits of the Lord Jesus reach, according to the law of
heaven, a man in this condition? Here is a case dubious; here is
a man whose salvation, by his foul offences, is made doubtful; now
we must to law and judgment, wherefore now let Christ stand up to
plead! I say, now was David's case dubious; he was afraid that God
would cast him away, and the devil hoped he would, and to that end
charged him before God's face, if, perhaps, he might get sentence
of damnation to pass upon his soul (Psa 51). But this was David's
mercy, he had an Advocate to plead his cause, by whose wisdom and
skill in matters of law and judgment he was brought off of those
heavy charges, from those gross sins, and delivered from that eternal
condemnation, that by the law of sin and death, was due thereto.

This is then the occasion that Christ taketh to plead, as Advocate,
for the salvation of his people-to wit, the cause: He "pleadeth
the cause of his people" (Is 51:22). Not every cause, but such and
such a cause; the cause that is very bad, and by the which they
are involved, not only in guilt and shame, but also in danger of
death and hell. I say, the cause is bad, if the text be true, if
sin can make it bad, yea, if sin itself be bad-"If any man sin,
we have an Advocate"; an Advocate to plead for him; for him as
considered guilty, and so, consequently, as considered in a bad
condition. It is true, we must distinguish between the person and
the sin; and Christ pleads for the person, not the sin; but yet He
cannot be concerned with the person, but he must be with the sin;
for though the person and the sin may be distinguished, yet they
cannot be separated. He must plead, then, not for a person only, but
for a guilty person, for a person under the worst of circumstances-"If
any man sin, we have an Advocate" for him as so considered.

When a man's cause is good, it will sufficiently plead for itself,
yea, and for its master too, especially when it is made appear so
to be, before a just and righteous judge. Here, therefore, needs
no advocate; the judge himself will pronounce him righteous. This
is evidently seen in Job-"Thou movedst me against him (this said
God to Satan), to destroy him without cause" (Job 2:3). Thus far
Job's cause was good, wherefore he did not need an advocate; his
cause pleaded for itself, and for its owner also. But if it was
to plead good causes for which Christ is appointed Advocate, then
the apostle should have written thus: If any man be righteous, we
have an Advocate with the Father. Indeed, I never heard but one in
all my life preach from this text, and he, when he came to handle
the cause for which he was to plead, pretended it must be good,
and therefore said to the people, See that your cause be good, else
Christ will not undertake it. But when I heard it, Lord, thought
I, if this be true, what shall I do, and what will become of all
this people, yea, and of this preacher too? Besides, I saw by the
text, the apostle supposeth another cause, a cause bad, exceeding
bad, if sin can make it so. And this was one cause why I undertook
this work.

When we speak of a cause, we speak not of a person simply
as so considered; for, as I said before, person and cause must
be distinguished; nor can the person make the cause good but as
he regulates his action by the Word of God. If, then, a good, a
righteous, man doth what the law condemns, that thing is bad; and
if he be indicted for so doing, he is indicted for a bad cause;
and he that will be his advocate, must be concerned in and about
a bad matter; and how he will bring his client off, therein doth
lie the mystery.

I know that a bad man may have a good cause depending before the
judge, and so also good men have (Job 31). But then they are bold
in their own cause, and fear not to make mention of it, and in
Christ to plead their innocency before the God of heaven, as well
as before men (Psa 71:3-5. II Cor 1:23. Gal 1:10. Phil 1:8). But
we have in the text a cause that all men are afraid of-a cause that
the apostle concludes so bad that none but Jesus Christ himself can
save a Christian from it. It is not only sinful, but sin itself-"If
any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father."

Wherefore there is in this place handled by the apostle, one of
the greatest mysteries under heaven-to wit, that an innocent and
holy Jesus should take in hand to plead for one before a just and
righteous God, that has defiled himself with sin; yea, that he
should take in hand to plead for such an one against the fallen
angels, and that he should also by his plea effectually rescue, and
bring them off from the crimes and curse whereof they were verily
guilty by the verdict of the law, and approbation of the Judge.

This, I say, is a great mystery, and deserves to be pried into by
all the godly, both because much of the wisdom of heaven is discovered
in it, and because the best saint is, or may be, concerned with it.
Nor must we by any means let this truth be lost, because it is the
truth; the text has declared it so, and to say otherwise is to belie
the Word of God, to thwart the apostle, to soothe up hypocrites,
to rob Christians of their privilege, and to take the glory from
the head of Jesus Christ (Luke 18:11,12).

The best saints are most sensible of their sins, and most apt to
make mountains of their mole hills. Satan also, as has been already
hinted, doth labour greatly to prevail with them to sin, and to
provoke their God against them, by pleading what is true, or by
surmising evilly of them, to the end they may be accused by him
(Job 2:9). Great is his malice toward them, great is his diligence
in seeking their destruction; wherefore greatly doth he desire
to sift, to try, and winnow them, if perhaps he may work in their
flesh to answer his design-that is, to break out in sinful acts,
that he may have by law to accuse them to their God and Father.
Wherefore, for their sakes this text abides, that they may see
that, when they have sinned, "they have an Advocate with the Father,
Jesus Christ the righteous." And thus have I showed you the nature,
the order, and occasion of this office of our blessed Lord Jesus.

[HOW CHRIST MANAGES THE OFFICE OF AN ADVOCATE.]

II. I come now to show you how Jesus Christ doth manage this
his office of an Advocate for us. And that I may do this to your
edification, I shall choose this method for the opening of it-First.
Show you how he manages this office with his Father. Second. I
shall show you how he manages it before him against our adversary.

First. How he manages this his office of Advocate with his Father.

1. He doth it by himself, by no other as deputy under him, no angel,
no saint; no work has place here but Jesus, and Jesus only. This
the text implies: "We have an Advocate"; speaking of one, but one,
one alone; without an equal or an inferior. We have but one, and he
is Jesus Christ. Nor is it for Christ's honour, nor for the honour
of the law, or of the justice of God, that any but Jesus Christ
should be an Advocate for a sinning saint. Besides, to assert the
contrary, what doth it but lessen sin, and make the advocateship of
Jesus Christ superfluous? It would lessen sin should it be removed
by a saint or angel; it would make the advocateship of Jesus Christ
superfluous, yea, needless, should it be possible that sin could
be removed from us by either saint or angel.

Again; if God should admit of more advocates than one, and yet
make mention of never an one but Jesus Christ; or if John should
allow another, and yet speak nothing but of Jesus only; yea, that
an advocate under that title should be mentioned but once, but
once only in all the book of God, and yet that divers should be
admitted, stands neither with the wisdom or love of God, nor with
the faithfulness of the apostle. But saints have but one Advocate,
if they will use him, or improve their faith in that office for
their help, so; if not, they must take what follows. This I thought
good to hint at, because the times are corrupt, and because ignorance
and superstition always wait for a countenance with us, and these
things have a natural tendency to darken all truth, so especially
this, which bringeth to Jesus Christ so much glory, and yieldeth
to the godly so much help and relief.

2. As Jesus Christ alone is Advocate, so God's bar, and that alone,
is that before which he pleads, for God is judge himself (Deut
32:36. Heb 12:23). Nor can the cause which now he is to plead be
removed into any other court, either by appeals or otherwise.

Could Satan remove us from heaven, to another court, he would
certainly be too hard for us, because there we should want our Jesus,
our Advocate, to plead our cause. Indeed, sometimes he impleads
us before men, and they are glad of the occasion, for they and he
are often one; but then we have leave to remove our cause, and to
pray for a trial in the highest court, saying, "Let my sentence
come forth from thy presence; let thine eyes behold the things that
are equal" (Psa 17:2). This wicked world doth sentence us for our
good deeds, but how then would they sentence us for our bad ones?
But we will never appeal from heaven to earth for right, for here
we have no Advocate; "our Advocate is with the Father, Jesus Christ
the righteous."

3. As he pleadeth by himself alone, and nowhere else but in the
court of heaven with the Father, so as he pleadeth with the Father
for us, he observeth this rule-

(1.) He granteth and confesseth whatever can rightly be charged
upon us; yet so as that he taketh the whole charge upon himself,
acknowledging the crimes to be his own. "O God," says he, "thou
knowest my foolishness, and my sins"; my guiltiness "is not hid from
thee" (Psa 69:5). And this he must do, or else he can do nothing.
If he hides the sin, or lesseneth it, he is faulty; if he leaves it
still upon us, we die. He must, then, take our iniquity to himself,
make it his own, and so deliver us; for having thus taken the sin
upon himself, as lawfully he may, and lovingly doth, "for we are
members of his body" ('tis his hand, 'tis his foot, 'tis his ear
hath sinned), it followeth that we live if he lives; and who can
desire more? 5This, then, must be thoroughly considered, if ever
we will have comfort in a day of trouble and distress for sin.

And thus far there is, in some kind, a harmony betwixt his being
a sacrifice, a priest, and an Advocate. As a sacrifice, our sins
were laid upon him (Isa 53). As a priest, he beareth them (Exo
28:38). And as an Advocate, he acknowledges them to be his own (Psa
69:5). Now, having acknowledged them to be his own, the quarrel is
no more betwixt us and Satan, for the Lord Jesus has espoused our
quarrel, and made it his. All, then, that we in this matter have
to do, is to stand at the bar by faith among the angels, and see
how the business goes. O blessed God! what a lover of mankind
art thou! and how gracious is our Lord Jesus, in his thus managing
matters for us.

(2.) The Lord Jesus having thus taken our sins upon himself, next
pleads his own goodness to God on our behalf, saying, "Let not them
that wait on thee, O Lord God of hosts, be ashamed for my sake: let
not those that seek thee be confounded for my sake, O God of Israel:
because for thy sake I have borne reproach; shame hath covered my
face" (Psa 69:6,7). Mark, let them not be ashamed for my sake,
let them not be confounded for my sake. Shame and confusion are
the fruits of guilt, or of a charge for sin, (Jer 3:25), and are
but an entrance into condemnation (Dan 12:2. John 5:29). But behold
how Christ pleads, saying, Let not that be for my sake, for the
merit of my blood, for the perfection of my righteousness, for the
prevalency of my intercession. Let them not be ashamed for my sake,
O Lord God of hosts. And let no man object, because this text is
in the Psalms, as if it were not spoken by the prophet of Christ;
for both John and Paul, yea, and Christ himself, do make this psalm
a prophecy of him. Compare verse 9 with John 2:17, and with Romans
15:3; and verse 21 with Matthew 27:48, and Mark 15:25. But is not
this a wonderful thing, that Christ should first take our sins,
and account them his own, and then plead the value and worth of his
whole self for our deliverance? For by these words, "for my sake,"
he pleads his own self, his whole self, and all that he is and has;
and thus he put us in good estate again, though our cause was very
bad.

To bring this down to weak capacities. Suppose a man should
be indebted twenty thousand pounds, but has not twenty thousand
farthings wherewith to pay; and suppose also that this man be
arrested for this debt, and that the law also, by which he is sued,
will not admit of a penny bate; this man may yet come well enough
off, if his advocate or attorney will make the debt his own, and
will, in the presence of the judges, out with his bags, and pay down
every farthing. Why, this is the way of our Advocate. Our sins are
called debts (Matt 6:12). We are sued for them at the law (Luke
12:59). And the devil is our accuser; but behold the Lord Jesus
comes out with his worthiness, pleads it at the bar, making the debt
his own (Mark 10:45. II Cor 3:5). And saith, Now let them not be
ashamed for my sake, O Lord God of hosts: let them not be confounded
for my sake, O God of Israel. And hence, as he is said to be an
Advocate, so he is said to be a propitiation, or amends-maker, or
one that appeaseth the justice of God for our sins-"If any man sin,
we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous;
and he is the propitiation for our sins."

And who can now object against the deliverance of the child of God?
God cannot; for he, for Christ's sake, according as he pleaded,
hath forgiven us all trespasses (Col 2:13, Eph 4:32). The devil
cannot; his mouth is stopped, as is plain in the case of Joshua
(Zech 3). The law cannot; for that approveth of what Christ has
done. This, then, is the way of Christ's pleading. You must know,
that when Christ pleads with God, he pleads with a just and righteous
God, and therefore he must plead law, and nothing but law; and this
he pleaded in both these pleas-First, in confessing of the sin he
justified the sentence of the law in pronouncing of it evil; and
then in his laying of himself, his whole self, before God for that
sin, he vindicated the sanction and perfection of the law. Thus,
therefore, he magnifies the law, and makes it honourable, and yet
brings off his client safe and sound in the view of all the angels
of God.

(3). The Lord Jesus having thus taken our sins upon himself, and
presented God with all the worthiness that is in his whole self for
them, in the next place he calleth for justice, or a just verdict
upon the satisfaction he hath made to God and to his law. Then
proclamation is made in open court, saying, "Take away the filthy
garments from him," from him that hath offended, and clothe him
with change of raiment (Zech 3).

Thus the soul is preserved that hath sinned; thus the God of heaven
is content that he should be saved; thus Satan is put to confusion,
and Jesus applauded and cried up by the angels of heaven, and by the
saints on earth. Thus have I showed you how Christ doth advocate it
with God and his Father for us; and I have been the more particular
in this, because the glory of Christ, and the comfort of the
dejected, are greatly concerned and wrapped up in it. Look, then,
to Jesus, if thou hast sinned; to Jesus, as an Advocate pleading
with the Father for thee. Look to nothing else; for he can tell
how, and that by himself, to deliver thee; yea, and will do it in
a way of justice, which is a wonder; and to the shame of Satan,
which will be his glory; and also to thy complete deliverance,
which will be thy comfort and salvation.

Second, But to pass this and come to the second thing, which is, to
show you how the Lord Jesus manages this his office of an Advocate
before his Father against the adversary; for he pleadeth with the
Father, but pleadeth against the devil; he pleadeth with the Father
law and justice, but against the adversary he letteth out himself.

I say, as he pleads against the adversary, so he enlargeth himself
with arguments over and besides those which he pleadeth with God
his Father.

Nor is it meet or needful that our advocate, when he pleads against
Satan, should so limit himself to matter of law, as when he pleadeth
with his Father. The saint, by sinning, oweth Satan nothing; no
law of his is broken thereby; why, then, should he plead for the
saving of his people, justifying righteousness to him?

Christ, when he died, died not to satisfy Satan, but his Father;
not to appease the devil, but to answer the demands of the justice
of God; nor did he design, when he hanged on the tree, to triumph
over his Father, but over Satan; "He redeemed us," therefore, "from
the curse of the law," by his blood (Gal 3:13). And from the power
of Satan, by his resurrection (Heb 2:14). He delivered us from
righteous judgment by price and purchase; but from the rage of hell
by fight and conquest.

And as he acted thus diversely in the work of our redemption, even
so he also doth in the execution of his Advocate's office. When
he pleadeth with God, he pleadeth so; and when he pleadeth against
Satan, he pleadeth so; and how he pleadeth with God when he dealeth
with law and justice I have showed you. And now I will show you
how he pleadeth before him against the "accuser of the brethren."

1. He pleads against him the well-pleasedness that his Father has
in his merits, saying, This shall please the Lord, or this doth or
will please the Lord, better than anything that can be propounded
(Psa 69:31). Now this plea being true, as it is, being established
upon the liking of God Almighty; whatever Satan can say to obtain
our everlasting destruction is without ground, and so unreasonable.
"I am well pleased," saith God (Matt 3:17); and again, "The Lord is
well pleased for his (Christ's) righteousness' sake" (Isa 42:21).
All that enter actions against others, pretend that wrong is done,
either against themselves or against the king. Now Satan will never
enter an action against us in the court above, for that wrong by
us has been done to himself; he must pretend, then, that he sues
us, for that wrong has, by us, been done to our king. But, behold,
"We have an Advocate with the Father," and he has made compensation
for our offences. He gave himself for our offences. But still Satan
maintains his suit; and our God, saith Christ, is well pleased
with us for this compensation-sake, yet he will not leave off his
clamour. Come, then, says the Lord Jesus, the contention is not
now against my people, but myself, and about the sufficiency of
the amends that I have made for the transgressions of my people;
but he is near that justifieth me, that approveth and accepteth
of my doings, therefore shall I not be confounded. Who is mine
adversary? Let him come near me! Behold, "the Lord God will help
me" (Isa 50:7-9). Who is he that condemneth me? Lo, they all shall,
were there ten thousand times as many more of them, wax old as
a garment; the moth shall eat them up. Wherefore, if the Father
saith Amen to all this, as I have showed already that he hath and
doth, the which also further appeareth, because the Lord God has
called him the Saviour, the Deliverer, and the Amen; what follows,
but that a rebuke should proceed from the throne against him? And
this, indeed, our Advocate calls for from the hand of his Father,
saying, O enemy, "the Lord rebuke thee"; yea, he doubles this request
to the judge, to intimate his earnestness for such a conclusion,
or to show that the enemy shall surely have it, both from our
Advocate, and from him before whom Satan has so grievously accused
us (Zech 3).