Chap.t. Secl:.8. )Looking unto 'jjefu.s. Book IV. 54l 1know it is a qudlion, whether Chrifi now in heaven do indeed, and truth, and in rit>,ht propriety of fpcech pray for us? fomc able Dtvines arc for rh~ Ne~ative,othersfor the AllirmatiYe. for my part(leaving a liberty to thofe otherwtfe mmded accordmg 10 their light)l am of opin1on,rhat Chrill cloth not only intercede by an interpretative Prayer, as in the prefentingofhimftlf, and his merits to his hrher; but alfe by an ex– prefs prayer , or by an exprcfs and open reprelcntation of his will : and to this ?Pinion methinks thefe Texts agree. I wzYpray the Fat/,.r,and hejh;Ugzv<you another Gomfor- J h 6 ., w, and at that day yejhall a~lzin my Name, and I fay u11toyo~, that I wiU pray the Fa. J~h~ :&: ~6; ther f>r you . when he faith,Ifay not,that I wzU pray foryou, tits the htghcfi mllmallon 2 7. that he wo~ld pray for them; as it is our phrafe,Ido 1101 fay that I wiU do thi<,or th•t for you, 11 onot 1; when indeed we will ~ofi furely do ir, and do it to purpofe. A~tftin confirms this, orat pro nobH, orat zn nobu, fit oratMr a nobH, &c. He pray1 for Uf, Aug.Prefat.in bt prays in llf ,and he il proytd to by Uf: bt praJI fo r llf t1f he il our Prieft,andhe prayt in U6 Pfalme 8). t1f be if our Head,and he il prayed to by Ul t1f be if our God• .Ambrofe tels us, That Chri/t Ambr.fuper jon<wpra)l f or llf ,llf fometimu bt prayed for Peter,that hi< faizh fhould notfaii,Methinks ad Roman. i. I imagine as ifl heard Chrifiprayint>,in heaven in this Language, 0 my Father, I pray not for theWorld, I wiU not open my lipt f or any one Son of perdition, but I imploy aUmy blood, a.d all my prayert, and all my inttrejft with th<e fo r my dear, belovetl, preciollf SaintJ; it iltrJte thou h•ft given mt a perfonal gl.,y which I bad with tbeebefore the Worldwtlf,andyrt there uanotherglory I b•gfor ,and tbJt ilthe glory of my S aintJ, 0 that they may be favedl why I amglorified in thtm,tbry arcmy joy,antl t 1 berefore l muft have them John 17 • to. with mewhere l~m, thou hajl fit my heart upon them,andthou t»y (elfhaft loved them at 13 •, 4 • thou h•JIIoved me,and thou haft ordained them ta beone in llf evena< we are o~~;e, and tbtrt• fo rt I cannot livelong afunder fr om them; I havethy company,but I muft h.ve tbeirt too ; I will that they be with me where I am; if I have anyglory ,rhey muft have part ofit; this u my prayer, that they may behold myglory_ wbich thou hajf given me. Why, rhus ChrHl: prayed while he was on Earth,and tf thts fame prayer be the fummary ofChrifi's in.• tercdlion or interpellation now he is in heaven,we may imagine him praying thus J it were too nice to quefiion,whether Chrifi's prayer in heaven he vocal or mental? certainly Chrifi prefents his gracious will to his Father in heaven fame way or other, and I make no quefiion but he fervently and immoveably defires that for the perpetual ver~ tue of his faerifiee all his members may be accepted ofGod,and crowned with glory;not only" is there a cry ofhis blood in heaven,but Chrifi by his prayer feeonds that cry ofhis !.load; an argument is handed to us by MafierGoodwin thus: J1it Wtlf with Abel,foit Goodwin if ff'ith Cbri{f,llbcls blood wtnt.ut4oheaven, andAbelsfo:~l went up toheaven,•ndby tbi< Chrift fet m'"'" tbe<>y of Abels dead blood, wat fecondedby the cry of A bels livingfo~<l ; hi< caufe forth. c.ryed,.andhu J•ul cryed; a< it Hfaid of the M.rtyu, that tbef•uluf them that ..ere flain for the T eftimony which they held,cryed with ~ loud voice,faying,how l011g Lord, Holy and True, doft thou not ju fge aMdavmge our blood that dwell on theeartb l evenfo it il with Rev. ~-9· ro; Chrifl; hi< blood went Jtp to heai!en,a;zd hi< foul went "P to heaven; yea hi< body, foul, and .v hiJ whole perfon .went "P toheaven; andhJ tbi< me.nt hi< cau(e cryet 1 and he bimfelffecondJ the cry of hi< caufe: Jefm Chrift in hi< ownperjon ever liveth tomak$ Interceffionfor U6; he ever liveth as thegreat Maj{er of reqttejlt to prejent hi< defiru, that thofe for whom he dyedma1 b• faved. . ·4· Chrill'slnterceffion confills in the prefcnting of our perfons in his own perfori to h1s Fathel', fo that now God cannot look upon the Son,but he mull behold the Saints in his Son ; are they not members of his body, in near rtlation to himfelf? and arc nor all his lnterceffions in behalf of them, and only of them? but how are all the EleCl: carried up into heaven with Jefus Chrifi,~nd there fer down before his Father in Jefus Chrifil lanfwer, not aCl:ually, but myllically ; when Chrill intercedes, he takes our perfons, and car~ies them in unto God the Father in a moll unpereeiveable way ro us; ~or-the way or manner I leave it to others, for my part, I dare not be too inquilitive ·~ a fecret not ~evealed by God ; only this we fay, that Chrifi prefcnts our perfons to hts Father m hts own perfon; and this was plainly fuadowed out by that ad: or office of the high Priefi, who went into the holy of holies, with the name~ of all the 'Iribet Exod. , 8 , 12 , of Ifrael~po11 hujhoulderJ, and upon hi< breaft, and this the Apofile fpeaks out yet more plarnly,bybim we have an ace<fs unto the Father, and in him we have boldneft Ephef. 2 , rS. and act>t{t. wztb confidence : I £hall a little enlarge on both thcfc Texts, record. 3•12. ed for ourmflrud:ton m the Law, and Gofpel , in the Old and in the New Tcfiamenr. F~rfi, we find in the Law, that Aaron wu to pttt two ftonu ~tpon the jhouldert of the Ephod, f orftonet of memorial untDthechildren of lfrael, and Jo Auon ll'll t• bear the Exod, ae. 14- . - - - nRmtr
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