Puritan Papers: 1960-1962 by J. I. Packer

Author:J. I. Packer [Packer, J. I.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Religion, Christian Church, History
ISBN: 9780875524672
Google: icMMAAAACAAJ
Amazon: 0875524672
Barnesnoble: 0875524672
Publisher: P&R Publishing
Published: 2001-02-28T22:00:00+00:00

10

THE PURITAN CONCEPT

OF DIVINE INTERCESSION

Eifion E. Evans

Through the tender mercy and loving kindness of God our Savior, His elect, in times of fearful declension and deadly lassitude, have not been left without a divine cordial of the most stimulating kind, prepared in the divine purpose, according to the terms of His gracious covenant, and providing the sweetest comfort, encouragement, and consolation. For those of His oppressed and despairing ones in Egypt He prepared a deliverer of divine appointment and a deliverance beyond human imagination. The mere sighs, cries, and groans of His people drawn from them by reason of the excessive yoke of insufferable bondage, coming up unto God, brought His covenant into remembrance and His power into operation. When opposition, persecution, or accusation is arraigned against them, though with considerable show of force, malice, and hatred, all will come to nought through the cancelling and overcoming quality of God’s provision. Thus, though Satan himself should stand at the right hand of Joshua the high priest, vigorously resisting and defiantly accusing God’s anointed servant, and though his garments are filthy and defiled, yet is Satan the loser and Joshua the better by it, for God, who has chosen Jerusalem has undertaken the rebuke of His enemy and the protection of His people. Whence comes this timely intervention, and what office has God inaugurated in the eternal counsel to manage such vital affairs? The answer must be—through the gracious, compassionate, and effective intercession of His own beloved Son, Jesus Christ!

For such times as ours, then, few considerations are more necessary, few truths more invigorating, than those of the intercession of Christ and of His Spirit.

Among Christians, there seems to be a prevalent and widespread ignorance concerning these valuable doctrines. The sad consequences of this lack of knowledge are to be felt in many aspects of the Christian’s spiritual experience, but particularly is this true in the realm of prayer. For herein lie those motives which move us to fervency, boldness, and confidence, and they, in their turn are tokens of blessing and an earnest of success in prayer. A serious investigation of the subject should therefore prove to be most timely and beneficial. Nor are we alone in recognizing its importance. Oliver Heywood’s estimate, in Puritan days, was not extravagant.

The subject is exceedingly necessary; our persons and our prayers would be lost, had we no intercessor. . . . This is a high privilege, a doctrine worth studying, for next to Christ’s satisfaction upon the cross, a Christian’s safety lies in Christ’s intercession.1

What Heywood says of Christ’s intercession, John Bunyan says, in effect, of Christ’s advocacy.

I fear the excellency of that doth still too much lie hid; though I am verily of the opinion that the people of God in this age have as much need of the knowledge thereof, if not more need, than had their brethren that are gone before them. These words, “if not more need,” perhaps may seem to some to be somewhat out of joint; but

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