I want you to look with me this
morning at 1 John, chapter 2. 1 John, chapter 2. The Apostle John is under the
Holy Spirit influence writing to God's people. God, who is
the Father of his people. And he says, he calls them, verse
1 of chapter 2, Children, my little children, these things
write I unto you, that ye sin not." My little children. He quite often refers to his
people as little children. Now, all persons are not the
children of God. Romans chapter 9, verse 8. clearly
says this, that they which are the children of the flesh, these
are not the children of God, but the children of the promise
are counted for the seed. God Almighty has only one begotten
Son. That is the Lord Jesus Christ.
But God, who is rich in mercy, adopted many sons. It has brought many sons unto
glory. Believers are children of God
by adoption first. God chooses them, adopts them
into His family, and by the new birth they are born of God, born
from above. So this is written to God's children,
God who is the Father of many children. And He says, my little
children, little children. Now, this does not offend God's
people by being called little children. Only a Pharisee would
be offended at that. But this is of great comfort
to God's people, to the children of God. Scripture says, except
you become as little children, you shall not enter the kingdom
of heaven. But to God's people who know
themselves to be little in their own eyes, and but children, this
is a comfort. For little children need to be
taught. They need to be led. They need
to be corrected. They need cared for. They need
to be provided for. They need protection. Little children require patience
on the part of their father, tenderness, compassion, pity. And so the scripture says, as
the father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that
fear him. He knows they're praying. And
he calls them little children. And he goes on to say, these
things I write unto you that you sin not. Little children,
the father says to his people, don't sin. These things I write
unto you that you sin Now, back in chapter 1 of this same book,
in verse 8, it says, ìIf we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves,
and the truth is not in us.î If anyone says they have no sin,
that they are without sin, they deceive themselves. And no one
is more deceived than someone who deceives themselves. And
he says the truth is not in that person. That person who thinks
they are perfectly without sin, well, they're deceived. That
person, for that matter, who thinks they have any goodness,
any value to God, any worth, any redeeming qualities, deceiveth
himself or herself. He is not God's child that thinks
that, because Scripture says in John 6, 45, all thy children
shall be taught of God." What is the first thing the Father
teaches them? It is that they are sinners. Paul said, "...in my flesh dwelleth
no good thing." No good. Undone. Undeserving. Hell-deserving sinners. Unable
to do anything without sin. Paul said in 1 Timothy, he said,
I am the chief of sinners. Not used to be, but I am. Now,
if any man say he has no sin, he deceiveth himself. But as
a faithful father would tell his children, the father tells
all of his children, don't sin. I write unto you that ye sin
not. Like a father would say, don't go there. Do that. Stop that. Quit that. Put that
down. So does the Father say to his
spiritual children. Lay aside, Scripture says, all
malice and all guile and hypocrisies and envies and all evil speaking.
Put off the old man. Put on the new. Come ye out from
among them, he said. Be ye separate, saith the Lord. I'll be a father unto you. For
God's children, if they be without chastening, that is, instructions,
reproof, rebukes, exhortation, then they are bastards. They
are not children. And all of God's children, all of God's
children want to be without sin. They want to be sinless. And
they strive to be like the Lord Jesus Christ, the only sinless
Son of God. God's children don't want to
sin, they don't love sin, they hate it, but try as they may,
try as they may, they still sin. And so, the kind and pitiful,
that is, full of pity Heavenly Father says, if any man sin,
we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He says, My little children,
these things I write unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man
sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the
righteous. This is the good news of the
gospel. He says, if any man sin. Now, it's not in case you do
sin, but no, the emphasis here is on any man. If any man sin,
any man, that is, whosoever, Jews, Gentiles, black, white,
red, yellow, rich, poor, young, old, male, female. When it says
man, it means any person. If any sin, we have an advocate. Any of God's children, we have
an advocate. That is a lawyer, a daysman. If any man sins, what kind of
sin? If any man sin, it doesn't specify,
it just says sin. What kind of sin? Well, the Lord
said, the Savior of sinners said, all manner of sin shall be forgiven. The worst sins. By the chief
of sinners. Any man, any man. If any man
sin, he says, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ. Advocate means lawyer, someone
to plead your guilty case. Now, let me ask a question. If
God is our Father, if God is the Father of His people, and
He is, if God is their Father, why do these children need an
advocate? Why do they need a lawyer with
God? Well, listen to me carefully.
Because God will always be, first and foremost, the holy and righteous
God. Our God, our Creator, our Judge,
who is to be feared. God's people. The beginning of
wisdom is the fear of the Lord. David writes throughout his psalm,
ìLord, unite our hearts to fear thy name.î You read, ìThe mercy
of the Lord is on them that fear him.î Godís people never stop
fearing the Lord. And God is first and foremost
a holy and righteous God, and he is to be approached as such. ìFor all have sinned, and do
sin, and come short of the glory of God.î And God, Scripture says,
will by no means clear the guilty. So we approach God as sinners
in fear and trembling. Yes, fear and trembling. Because God is holy and righteous
and just. Oh, this is the missing ingredient. One of the missing ingredients
in preaching today, the fear of God. The fear of God. Let me give you an illustration
which tells God is first just. He said in
Isaiah, I am a just God and a Savior. But first He is just, holy, righteous,
just, and to be feared as such and approached as the holy, righteous
God. I'll give you this true illustration,
a true story. A friend of mine is from Ireland. Born and raised in Ireland and
became a missionary all over the world. He passed away a few
years ago. His name was Bill Clark. Visiting
him over in Ireland, we went through a town and he pointed
out a place called the Lynch Stone. The story was that a man
who was the Lord Mayor and the Judge
and everything in the town, Mr. Fitzsimmons. Mr. Fitzsimmons
was well-loved and well-known by the people of that town, and
he had one son. Mr. Fitzsimmons had one son,
and his son was quite a wild fellow. His son left home, went
to France, and He met a friend there and brought his friend
back with him to Ireland. In the course of time, Mr. Fitzsimmons' son fell in love
with a girl. Well, his friend did too. He began to court this girl,
and Mr. Fitzsimmons' son grew angry at
his friend and shot and killed him. He killed his friend. Well, the people of the town
loved Mr. Fitzsimmons so much, they esteemed
him so highly, that they did not want to punish his son. They did not want his son to
suffer out of their love and respect for the beloved Mr. Fitzsimmons. But Mr. Fitzsimmons
was a just man, and one day And early in the morning, the whole
town heard the bell ringing up at the palace where Mr. Fitzsimmons
lived, up in his big home. They heard a bell ringing, and
they all gathered to Mr. Fitzsimmons' home, and there
he stood in front of his home with his son, his son before
him with a rope around his neck tied to a tree. And Mr. Fitzsimmons said to all
the people of that town, no one is above the law, not even my
son. And he hung his own son right
before the people. And that's exactly what God Almighty
did to his own son. Yes, the Lord bruised his son. And he did that because Christ
was made sin for his people, made guilty. God is first holy,
righteous, and just. And he says, if any man sin,
we have an advocate with the Father. Advocate, court-appointed
lawyer. If any man sin, we must have
one, always must have one before this holy and righteous God. And Jesus Christ is the lawyer. for guilty sinners. He only takes
guilty cases. He only takes guilty cases. That's
the only one. He doesn't take those who have
been framed, those who think themselves innocent, but just
guilty of a few things. No, the guilty through and through.
He takes all of those cases. And here is the good news. Every
one he represents, every single person who comes unto God by
him needing this advocate. Every single one, he clears them of all things.
He justifies them of all things. They get off scot-free. How? Because he paid their penalty. He is the substitute for guilty
sin and the advocate with the Father. Jesus Christ, the righteous. Well, I hope you know you need
an advocate, and if you do, you will appeal to the Advocate for
Guilty Center. Until next Sunday, good day. Thank you very much. All right. Thank you. All right. All right. All right.