to Jave Sinner!, &c. that lntercellion prevalent was wroUght out in the Flcfh; therefore we find in the Old Tcftament Chrift interceding before he was God~ Man adually, hut as the Secoud Pcrfon of the BlcOed Trinity, he was a:fterwart!s to be made God-Man, Zach. r. 12. The Angel •fthe Lord (that is JefiiS Chrifr) .mfwered and fa;d, 0 Lord •f Hojls, h•w long wiLt thou tzot have mercy on Jerufalcm, and in the Oties of Judah? &c. Yea, the S.1ints then alive made ufe of the Name of Chrift in their Prayers to God the Fa.. ther; fo you have it, Dan. 9· 17. !vOw therefore, 0 our God, hettr the Prayer of thy forvant, &c. and caufe thy face to jhine upon thy fanEluary that is defolate joY the Lor'!'s fake! So that hence you fee that Chrift's lntcrcejficm begun Ill Heaven lonQ before his abode here 11pon Earth, yea, it was the very firft part of the Office ofhisMediatorjhip that he entred upon; Chrift did nothing as Mediator till after the Fall ; and the firft thing he did as in that relation it was interceding for fallen Man, to keep him from Peath thrC'.ttned, and to reftore him to Life which he had forfeited. 2. Confider Chrift's Interceffion, not o.nly as performed from all Eternity, but nftcr the confummation of all things. Jfe intercedes for his Chmch, not only while Milit:mt on Earth, bnt when Triumphant in Glory, He ever lives to make lnterceJJi- (111 (or m. Chrift is faid to be a Prieft for wer, Heb. 6 . 2o. and to have an unchangeable Pri~f/IJood in the Ver(e before the Text. Now the Prieflhood of Chrift hath two pJ.rts, Oblttt£on and /nrercej{z.on; his Oblation was when he made his Soul an Offering tOr Sin, and offered up himfelf as a Sacrifice to God upon the Altar of the Crofs: Now this part of his Priefthood is ceafed, Heb. to. 14. By once offering up himfclf, he hr.rh for ever per(cllcd them that are fanUified, &c. Heb. 9· 26. Chrift being a Pricft for ever, and· not being a Prieft any longer in refpelt of his Ot>lation, it remains th:tt the Eternity of his Priefthood defcends upon his lnteruffion only, and therefore his !JJterceffion is Eternal. But you may ask me, what need !hall we ftand in of the Int erccffion of Chrift, when we are glorified With him, and what then fhall he intercede for? To this I anfwcr, The lnterceffion of Chrift is Twofold, Conciliatory and Reconciliatory; the firlt is, That whereby Mercy and all good Things, both Temporal, Spiritual and Eternal are effet'tually procured for us, and bellowed upon us. The other is, That whereby Pardon, Juftification and Atonement are freely conferred upon us. While we are upon the Earth, we fl:and in need to receive the Benefit of both there lnterceffiom, for they are aptly fllited to our Twofold Jl:ate of \V ants and Miferies. Onr ftate ofSin and lmperfeCl:ion. Our Wants are filpplied by l1i!' Concilitttory lntrrceffion, and our Sins pardoned by his Reconciliatory lnterceffion, and both thefe we have abfolutc need of while we live here in this vale of Tears: But accordingly as the Church and People of God do out-groW the ftate of Want and Sin1 fo :tlfo thefe lmcrceJJions of Chrift onr High-Prieft ceafe·. T. Chrift's Rcconcili:ttorylnterceffion thateverceafeth in .Heaven when he hath ~athered together the number of his Ele& into one, for then they fhall all be in a full, perfect and finlefs condition ; we lhall then never more offend God, never more be alienated and eftranged from God by fin ; and when We are polfeJTed of fi1ch a blelfed fi:atc ~s this is, there fhall be no more need of a Days-man for to make Interceffion and Reconciliation for a it diftances, and enmity fhall he utterly abolilh~ cd ; therefore Chrift's lntercejfion doth not laft for ever as to this part which is Reconciliat~ry. 2. As for his <AnciliatOry lnterc~ffion, whereby he obtains for us Me-rcy and all good Things, that is, thofe good thin!'!;S that ·a re either Temporal or Spiritual, that refpetl this Life, or elfe which refpetl the future ftate of Glory in Heaven. 'The former part of this lnterceffi.on ofChrifi: that lhalllikewife fhortly ceafe, becaufe this Life it felf lhalllhortly ceafe, and the Saints themfelves alfo; for when all that have been tranflated, or that have died, !hall be raifed to a better Life, all the wants which they do no~ fhftain on the account of Grace, or a want of Peace, or a want of Protetl:ion, or a want ofProvifion, inward wants, or outward world~ l y wants or evils, fhallall ceafe there, and therefore the Interceffion of Chrift, as it rcfpet'ts the Mercies of this Life, fhalllhortly ceafe. Now Chrift's lnterce({ion for futkre Glory, that is, either for the fubftante of it, or for the continuance or it; as for ;he fubftancc of their Glory Chrill; intercedes fur that before he Crowns them I XXXX2 witb1
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