Discourses upon the Existence and Attributes of God

'Tis a sign of a spiritual heart, when he can take a rise to bless God for the renewing and blowing up his affections, in the midst of so many incursions from Satan to the contrary, and the readiness of the heart too much to comply with them.

(4.) When we take occasion from thence to prize the mediation of Christ. The more distractions jog us, the more need we should see of going out to a Saviour by Faith. One part of our Saviours Office is to stand between us and the infirmities of our worship: As he is an Advocate, he presents our services, and pleads for them and us^*; for the sins of our duties, as well as for our other sins. Jesus Christ is an High-priest, appointed by God to take away the iniquities of our holy things, which was typified by Aaron's Plate upon his Mitre^*. Were there no imperfections, were there no creeping up of those Frogs into our minds, we should think our worship might merit acceptance with God upon its own account: But if we behold our own weakness, that not a tear, a groan, a sigh is so pure, but must have Christ to make it entertainable; that there is no worship without those blemishes; and upon this, throw all our services into the Arms of Christ for acceptance, and solicit him to put his merits in the front, to make our ciphers appear valuable; 'tis a spiritual act, the design of God in the Gospel being to advance the honour and mediation of his Son. That is a spiritual and evangelical act, which answers the evangelical design. The design of Satan and our own corruption is defeated, when those interruptions make us run swifter, and take faster hold on the High-priest who is to present our worship to God, and our own Souls receive comfort thereby. Christ had temptations offered to him by the Devil in his Wilderness retirement; that from an experimental knowledge, he might be able more compassionately to succour us^*; we have such assaults in our retired worship especially, that we may be able more highly to value him and his mediation.