No man, not

culiarity was set forth in the type. even the king himself, might intrude into the functions of the priesthood in general; nor was any one but the high priest permitted to carry incense, on the day of expiation, into the holy of holies. There is none else in heaven or in earth, either qualified, or authorized, or required, to make intercession. No ONE cometh unto the Father BUT BY HIM.' Through HIM we have access by one Spirit unto the Father.' 'There is ONE mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.' The saints may, indeed, lawfully intercede for one another, but in a way very different from Christ. They intercede on earth, he in heaven; he on the footing of his own merit, they altogether denied to every thing like personal worth as the ground on which they trust for being heard. Angels may not intrude on this high and peculiar function of the Lord of angels. They are often said to praise, but never, that we are aware of, to pray. Nor can they have any personal disposable merit to form the foundation of vicarious intercessions. To represent either angels or men as joint intercessors with Christ, as is done by the church of Rome, is to be guilty of a daring invasion of a high and exclusive prerogative of the one Mediator. To the entrance into the holy place not made with hands, in the sense in which we are now speaking of it, the language of the prophet may be fitly accommodated:-This gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened, and no man shall enter in by it; because the Lord, the God of Israel, hath entered in by it, therefore it shall be

shut. It is for the Prince.'*

Yes, Messiah the Prince, the Prince of peace, claims the work of intercession as his peculiar prerogative. It is a prerogative, indeed, which he claims as his to the exclusion, as we have said, even of the other persons of the godhead. The Father, as the representative of Deity, sustaining the character of the judicial sovereign with whom the intercession must be transacted, cannot be supposed to act in the capacity of intercessor. We read, indeed, of the Spirit's intercession-The Spirit maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God,' but it is essentially different from that of Christ. We cannot, at present, enter minutely into all the distinctions between them. That of Christ is personal; that of the Spirit moral. The Spirit does not stand up, as does Christ, before God in the court of heaven, and literally plead the cause of men. Such a supposition, besides implying a reflection on the perfection of Christ's work, is at variance with the exclusive divinity of the Spirit, he having no human nature as Christ has in which he can appropriately appear in the capacity of a pleader. The Spirit's intercession consists in the moral influence he exerts on the souls of the people of God, in leading them out to pray for themselves, by discovering to them the matter of prayer; by imparting a disposition or inclination to pray; by fixing the mind on the subject of prayer; by giving enlargement, freedom, and confidence in the exercise; and by directing them in the use of proper arguments. * Ezek. xliv. 2, 3,

From this it will plainly enough appear, in what the intercession of Christ and that of the Holy Spirit differ from one another. They differ in their nature, the one being meritorious and the other moral; in their objects, that of the one being to remove the obstacles to man's salvation that exist on the part of God, that of the other to remove those which exist on the part of man; in their locality, the one being in heaven, the other on earth; in the relation which they bear to their subjects, the one being without men, the other within; and in their effects, the one enabling to pray, the other rendering prayer acceptable to God. thus appears that the intercession of the Spirit interferes in no point whatever with that of Christ, but leaves it in all its naked peculiarity or exclusiveness.

The prevalence or efficacy of Christ's intercession is a feature on which we might descant at great length. It is an inviting theme, so full is it of comfort and encouragement. It often happens, among men, that the most urgent petitions, the most touching appeals on behalf of the oppressed, the wretched, and the needy, are permitted to remain disregarded and unheard. But not one request of our divine Advocate can possibly share this fate. Him the Father heareth always. This view admits of ample confirmation and illustration. It was typified, indeed, under the law, by the success which attended the entrance of the high priest into the holy of holies on the day of expiation; for, had he not been accepted, the fire would have been extinguished on the golden altar,

the censer of incense would have dropped from his hand, and he would never have been permitted to return to bless the people. In the twenty-first Psalm, which, from the lofty terms in which it is conceived, must have a higher reference than to the literal David, we read, Thou hast given him his heart's desire, and hast not withholden the request of his lips."* Nor did Christ ever, while on earth, intercede in vain. 'Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me,' is his own testimony on one particular occasion, to which he subjoins the general affirmation, And I knew that thou hearest me always.' The apostle assures us, that 'when in the days of his flesh he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears, he was heard in that he feared.' One request only was he ever denied, Father, if it be possible let this cup pass from me.' But this was no part of his intercession: it was the natural shrinking of his holy human nature from the awful scene that was before him; and, instead of militating against our position, it gives it support, inasmuch as his drinking the bitter cup of mingled woe, which could not possibly pass from him, laid a meritorious foundation for the success of his advocacy. If that one prayer had been heard on his own behalf, not another could have been heard on ours. When the character of the intercessor is considered, there can be no reason to dread his ever being unheard. The dignity of his person must give weight and influence to his petitions ; + Heb. v. 7.

* Ps. xxi. 2.

† John xi. 41, 42.

the relation in which he stands to God as a Son, cannot but have its effect; nor are his personal and official qualifications here to be forgotten. That one who is infinitely wise, and holy, and compassionate; whose diligence, and zeal, and affection are boundless; who acts moreover under the high authority of a divine commission, should fail in his suit is utterly impossible. Were he man only, or even angel, failure were not impossible; but being the Son of God, Jehovah's fellow, it must be that as a Prince he has power with God and shall prevail. The foundation on which his intercession rests affords farther security. It proceeds on the footing of his atonement. He aske nothing for which he has not paid the full price of his precious blood. What he seeks is what he has merited; and he who has 'accepted his sacri fice' cannot but grant him his heart's desire,? cannot withhold from him the request of his lips. Nor is there in the matter of his intercession, as before delineated, any thing but what is good im itself, agreeable to the will of God, and fitted to advance the glories of the godhead. The objects, too, for whom he pleads, are all the chosen of God, the children, the friends of Him with whom he pleads, dear to his heart as to his own, alike the objects of his complacent affection and esteem. The Father himself loveth them.' Add to all! these considerations, the security arising from the results of Christ's intercession that have been al ready realised. How many souls have been converted, how many sins pardoned, how many temp tations repelled, how many acts of holy obedience