)24 The Alt-{ufficiency ofChrift ~--~---------- 3 1. God hearcth uot fitmtrs, and therefore he never heareth us becaufc we are Sinners : but he always heareth his Son, who fpeaks over for us the fame Pray ers that'W~ have before fpoken, and fo he hears us fpcaking by him, and he is well-pl eafed with thofe Duties that othcrwife would be an abomination to him. Fourthly, Chrift prefcnts to .God as our Services, fa alfo his own Merits aOJ tba.t as the full and the equitable price of all the .Mercies for which he inte rcedes'; for Cbtift's ~Jttrceffiorr i~ not.a bare begging of bleffings to. be beftowed gr'!tiJ upon us, hut all Jus Tranfa(hons m the Court of Heaven arc m a way of SatisfaCtion and Pur.chafe. Is Sin to he pardoned? Lo l1cre is the Blood of Propitiation and Atone~ ment. Is Mercy to he procured? Lo here is the price of the Purchafc, a ll that we receive through the lnterccffi:on ofChrift ; it is at once both the EffeCl: of Free Grace and Bounty, and yet likewife the Purchafe df All~fufficiency, and of a Meritorious price in refpea of us; all is free in refpea of Chrift's undertaking, witho ut our Preord ination, free as to performance without our Premotion, free in the effe ctual A ppli- (.-ation of it to us; but though all this is free Grace in refpca of us, yet in rcfpe([ ofChrift it is the Purchafe of a full price, ·and coil: him the laying a fide of his own Glory, the obfcnring ofhimfelf in a V ail of F leJh, afii.Iming a Body to prepare him for the Work of our Redemption. It colt him the lofing of l1is Life, t he lhedding of hi s mort precious Blood to accomplilh that Redemption, I OJr. 6. 20. 1 OJr. 7· 27. Ye arc all I ought with tt price, &c. We are not redumed with corruptible things, M filver and gold, but with the preciom blood of Chr{/f, 1 P(t• I. 18. ;Now a.s Chrift once _offered up himfelf up to the Crofs, fo he contmually offers up htmfelf 111 lnterceffion, and prefents that Blood to his Father that he formerly lhed for Sinners; and the refore it is remarkable, that where Chrift is called our .Advocate, he is called likewife our Propitiation, I John 2. I, 2.. If any Man fin, we have an AdvtJcate with the Father, 'Jefiu Chrift the Riuhteom., and he is alfo the Propitiation for our fins. Notin?; to us that: the validity of thtinterceffion of Chrift confifts in the Merits of his Death and Suffcrings, which price offered up as a Propitiation unto God in his Interceffion is for the Sins of all thofe that believe. 'I Fifthly, Chrift alfo pre[cnts hU Will and D~{ire to hi! F~tther in his lnterceffion. Which by venue of his Merits IS always heard and granted; and this he doth not in a fupplicatory manner, but by Authority, by his abfolute Dominion which h e hath over thofe Mercies he intercedes for; Father, I will that thofe whom thou haft given me may be ~vith me, &c. All Authority_ is given to the Son, John S· 22. Therefore. it is fa id, Rom- 8. 34, That he is at t;he right hand of God making interceffion for •u; wh1ch Phrafeso lmports, that all Power both in Heaven and Earth is configned over to Chrift, and therefore his Interccffion at the Right Hand of God is an fnt erceffion with Authority, fuch an lnterce({ion as cannot, as fhall not be denied ; fo then in thefe Five Particular$ we may fee wherein the lnterceffion of Chrift confifrs in prefcnting his own Perfon, and appearing in the Court of Heaven f6r us, in offering up our Duties and Services, iu prcfenting his own Merit~ and li~ewifc his Soveraign and Uncontroulahle Will to his Father; by all which we may reft abundantly fecured, that al l the good things which we ask in his Name, and that he asks on our behalf, fhall b e certainly conferred upon us. So much for the firft thing propounded, what the lntercejfion of Chrift.is, and wherein it doth confift. · Secondly, Let us confider (according to the Method propounded ) this lntercejfion of Chrift in the latitude and extent of it; I !hall do this llllder a Twofold Refpeet. r. In rcfpect of the Time wherein it is: made. 2. In refpeill of the Perfons for w,hom it is prevalent. . I. Confider the lnterc9Jton o(Chrift in refpeft of the Time ; and fo we may take not1ce too how he performed It before his Affumption of Flelh, and likewife h ow it !hall be performed after the Confummation ofall things to all Ete.nity : As to the former obfervc, that though it be moft eminently performed fince the Hypoft.atic~t Vnion ofbonh. Natnres in the Perfon ofChrilb, yet it was alfo effectually perfor med before his taking ofour Flelh upon him. For as now Chrift intercedes up on the a:- count of thofe Sufferings he hath undergone in his Body, fo he in.ter~cdcd1 an~ hts {nterceffion was prevalent before he was made Flelb, though the Ment which made thac
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