The work of Jesus Christ as an advocate clearly explained and largely improved for…

First, more generally. They are all the truly Gracious; those that are the Children by Adoption: And this the Text affirmeth; I write unto you, little Children, that you sin not: And if any Man sin, we have on Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. They are then the Children, the Children by Adoption, that are the Persons concerned in the Advocateship of Jesus Christ. The Priesthood of Christ extendeth it self to the whole Body of the Elect; but the Advocateship of Christ doth not so, this is further cleared, by this Apostle, and that in this very Text, if you consider, what immediately follows. We have an Advocate, says he, and he is also the Propitiation for our Sins. He is our Advocate and also our Priest. As an Advocate, ours only; but as a Propitiation, not ours only, but also for the Sins of the whole World; to be sure, for the Elect throughout the World, and they that will extend i• further, let them.

And I say again, had he not intended that there should have been a straighter Limit put to the Advocateship of Christ, than he would have us put to his Priestly Office, What needed he, when he speaketh of the Propitiation which relates to Christ as Priest, have added, And not for ours only? As an Advocate then, he engageth for us that are Children; and as a Priest too, he hath appeased God's ⟨p. 70⟩Wrath for our Sins. But, as an Advocate, his Offices are confined to the Children only, but as a Priest he is not so. He is the Propitiation for our Sins, and not for ours only. The Sense therefore of the Apostle should, I think, be this: That Christ, as a Priest, hath offered a Propitiatory Sacrifice for all; but, as an Advocate, he pleadeth only for the Children. Children, we have an Advocate to our selves, and he is also our Priest; but as he is a Priest, he is not ours only, but maketh, as such, amends for all that shall be saved. The Elect therefore have the Lord Jesus for their Advocate then and only then when they are, by calling, put among the Children, because as Advocate he is peculiarly the Children's. My little Children we have an Advocate.