"AN ADVOCATE WITH THE FATHER"


A. "MY LITTLE CHILDREN, THESE THINGS WRITE I UNTO YOU, THAT YE SIN NOT. AND IF ANY MAN SIN, WE HAVE AN ADVOCATE WITH THE FATHER, JESUS CHRIST THE RIGHTEOUS AND HE IS THE PROPITIATION FOR OUR SINS: AND NOT FOR OURS ONLY, BUT ALSO FOR THE WHOLE WORLD" - I JOHN 2:1-2
  1. As we read these words:
    1. We are awed by their importance - difficult for our finite mind to grasp - yet true
    2. They are, in fact, God's solution to the problems of sin
  2. John takes notice:
    1. Of the possibility of sin
    2. But he points to a way out of transgression
B. OUR TEXT MAY BE DIVIDED INTO THREE PARTS
  1. The peril:
    1. John clearly shows that any sin can be fatal to the sinner
    2. God does not place a premium upon sin
    3. Sin can be fatal; Example: it was fatal to Cain - Gen. 4:16; it was fatal to Saul - I Sam. 16:14; yea, it was fatal to Judas - Matt. 27:1-5 Ananias and his wife, Sapphira, are another example of the fatality of sin - Acts 5:5-10
  2. The pleader:
    1. "We have an advocate with the Father"
    2. He is in the place of great influence in the heavenly court - compare I Tim. 2:5 with Hebrews 4:15-16; 7:26-28
    3. The influence of our advocate is enhanced by His character, "who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners;" - Heb. 7:26
    4. He knows humanity, including the temptations that come to men, because He Himself went through them all - Heb. 2:14-17
    5. He pleads Hi sacrifice on the cross of Calvary as a reason for the forgiveness of our sins
    6. Dear reader, do you know this Pleader intimately? Can you say with Job, "I know that my Redeemer liveth" - Job 19:25; can you say with Paul, "I know whom I have believed" - 2 Tim. 1:12
  3. This Pleader is at your service now:
    1. Have you used His mediatorial services
    2. Only by His mediation can we have access to God the Father
C. IN CLOSING LET US CONSIDER THE PLEAS OF OUR ADVOCATE BEFORE THE FATHER
  1. Why is the plea needed in the Court of Mercy?
    1. The claims of a broken law have to be satisfied - sin is breaking God's law I John 3:4
    2. God's law is a revelation of His character - compare - Rom. 7:12-14 with Ex. 34:6-7; Eccl. 12:13-14; Rom. 3:1-20
    3. It is an expression of His eternal and unchangeable will - and when we break it was set ourselves in opposition to his will - Rom. 8:1-8
    4. The claims of divine justice must be met, or else righteousness ceases to exist - Heb. 9:29; 2 Cor. 5:10
  2. Only Jesus Christ the righteous can do both:
    1. He died for us and in that he satisfied the claims of the law of God - Rom. 8:1-8
    2. He magnified the law of God and made it honorable - Is. 40:18-20; Matt. 5:17-20
    3. How devilish it is to accuse the Son of God of having come to set aside the claims of the law of God - Is. 30:8-9; I John 2:3-4
  3. Let us ever remember that if the law of God could have been set aside:
    1. Jesus Christ would not have died - His death is eternal proof that God's law is eternal just as He is eternal
    2. That if the law of God would have been annulled or set aside - we would have no way of knowing sin, because the Bible teaches, "That by the law is the knowledge of sin" - Rom. 3:20 - Paul admits that he had not know sin, but by the law of God - Rom. 7:7-16
  4. Jesus Christ the righteous:
    1. Represents our interests in the Divine Court of justice
    2. He pleads both the shedding of His blood and his spotless life as the satisfying reasons for the removal of our sins from the books in heaven
    3. Will he succeed in my behalf and in your behalf
    4. Let us draw nigh into the throne of mercy and become reconciled unto God by the intercession of our righteous advocate before the Father


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