I invite your attention to the
first epistle of John the Apostle, chapter 1. My text will be found in chapter
2, verse 1, and this message is titled, Jesus Christ the Advocate. But I'm going to take you to
1 John 2 verse 1 by beginning to read from 1 John chapter 1
verse 5. And in this verse, 1 John 1 verse
5, we read, this is the message which we have heard from him,
that would be Jesus Christ, We have heard this message from
Christ and we declare it to you that God is light and in him
that is in God is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship
with him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the
truth. But if And I want you here to
note that verses 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 all begin with the letter
if. But if, verse 7, we walk in the
light as God is in the light, we have fellowship with one another
and the blood of Jesus Christ his son cleanses us from all
sin. Note the tense of that verb cleanses. The blood of Jesus Christ continually
cleanses us. It cleansed us at Calvary, it
cleansed us in our conversion, and even to this day it continues
to cleanse us. Verse 8. If we say that we have
no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is
faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned,
we make him a liar and his word is not in us. Now we come to
my text, 1 John 2 verse 1. My little children, these things
are right to you, that you may not sin. And if anyone sins,
We have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And he himself is the propitiation
for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the whole
world. Look at that text, 1 John 2 verse
1. Here we learn that Jesus Christ
is our advocate. Now what is an advocate, you
may ask? An advocate is one called to
another's aid. He is called to stand beside
someone, to be with one, to give him help and to give him aid. The Greek word here is paraclete. You probably have come across
that term from time to time. We have sung it in a hymn about
the heavenly paraclete. We have two paracletes, we have
two advocates, two people, two persons that are called to our
sides to give us aid. Now the first of these is the
Holy Spirit. When Jesus prepared to return
to glory, he told his disciples, I will not leave you as orphans,
but I will give you a comforter. I will give you someone who will
stand here beside you. And Jesus here spoke of the Holy
Spirit and called him the Comforter or the Helper. He helps us in
times of need. He's right there by our side
to help us in time of need. He's our comforter in the times
of mourning. He gives comfort to us. He gives
help to us. He gives everything to us that
we would have expected if Jesus Christ himself were standing
there beside us. Now the paraclete first of all
is the Holy Spirit but in this text we're looking at the second
paraclete, we're looking at the second person who is called to
our side and this person is our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. In this instance The advocate,
the one called to our side, is specifically one who pleads another
cause before a judge. If you are called to go before
a judge in a trial, you've been summoned to court, you better
hope that you have an advocate. You better hope that you have
a defense attorney. It is said in legal circles that
he who defends himself in a court of law has a fool for a client. Well, I can assure you that that
would be the case if I went to court to defend myself and I
was going to be my defense attorney. If I was going to represent myself,
I would have a fool for a client. I do not know the procedures. I do not know when to raise the
objections. I do not know if I'm being questioned
in the wrong way. I would be a fool to go to court
and represent myself and have a fool for a client. That saying not only is true
in the courts of men, but that saying, he who defends himself
on a court of law has a fool for a client, is true also in
the court of divine justice. And in the court of divine justice,
every one of us must stand before God and give an account of ourselves
to God our judge. We read in Romans 14 10, for
we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ Each
of us shall give account of himself to God. Now notice that we're
going to stand at the judgment seat of Christ and that God will
be the judge. There is no contradiction there.
The judge is Christ and the judge is God and we will all give an
account of ourselves to Christ our judge. Now, many will stand
before the judge in that day, and they do so even today, and
defend themselves because they have a fool for a client. Many may defend themselves by
saying, surely our good works outweigh our bad works. Well,
if they say that, the judge would reply, you are condemned. For you have no good works, and
all your works are bad, and it is written, for there is not
a just man on earth who does good and does not sin, you are
condemned. Many may defend themselves by
saying, we are righteous, for we have kept the law of Moses
and the Ten Commandments, And the judge would reply, you are
condemned for it is written by the deeds of the law, no flesh
will be justified in God's sight for by the law is the knowledge
of sin. You are condemned. Many may defend
themselves by saying, we have not sinned for there is no God. And since there is no God, we
cannot have sinned. The judge would reply, you are
condemned for it is written, the fool has said in his heart,
there is no God. And furthermore, you are condemned
because it is written, if you say that you have not sinned,
you make God a liar and his word is not in you. You are condemned. Many may defend themselves by
saying, we have no sin, for we progressed in sanctification
and holiness until we reached entire sanctification and sinless
perfection. The judge would reply, you are
condemned, for it is written, if you say that you have no sin,
you deceive yourselves and the truth is not in you. Many may
defend themselves by pointing to others and saying, I am holier
than them. The judge would reply, you are
condemned, for it is written, you are smoke in my nostrils,
a fire that burns all the day. You are condemned. Many may defend
themselves by saying, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your
name, cast out demons in your name, and done many wonders in
your name? The judge would reply, I never
knew you. Depart from me, you who practice
lawlessness. But ah, here come others, and
they may say, Lord, We have sinned. We are devoid of virtue or merit,
righteousness or holiness, but we trust in Jesus Christ as our
Lord and Savior. And we have him, Jesus Christ,
for our righteousness. And we appeal to your promise
that we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the
righteous. Now you assured us of that in
1 John 2 verse 1. You said, we have an advocate
with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, and we appeal
to that promise. We want Jesus Christ. to handle
our case. None but these sinners, having
Jesus Christ for their advocate, will be vindicated by God the
judge and received into eternal glory. Now from what we have just said,
I want you to note very well this fact that Jesus Christ is
not the advocate for good people, nor for self-righteous law keepers,
nor for those denying that they are sinners, nor for those claiming
to be sinless, nor for those professing to be holier than
thou, nor for those boasting of what they have done. Jesus
Christ the righteous, is the advocate only for confessing
sinners who appeal to God and His promise that if we sin, we
have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. We will this morning consider
Jesus Christ the advocate But first, let us consider this. Two things I want you to consider.
Let us consider first, to whom Jesus Christ is the advocate,
and consider second, the admonition here given to them. Who are these
who have Jesus Christ as their advocate? Those who have Jesus
Christ for their advocate are addressed by John the Apostle
as my little children. Now, he began chapter two, verse
one, our present text, he began that text with that very phrase,
my little children. This is the same tender. affectionate
term of endearment used by Jesus Christ of his disciples in John
13 verse 33. John undoubtedly heard Jesus
refer to John and the rest of the disciples as my little children. What a tender and affectionate
term of endearment is that, my little children. And now John
writes evidently to a church and even to the church at large
and even to you and to me today and he addresses us as my little
children. Paul the Apostle also spoke of
the children of God and of Christ as my little children in Galatians
4 verse 19. I want you to see the tenderness
affection in the hearts of God's preachers, the ministers of Christ,
when they address the Lord's people. The Lord's people are
God's children. The Lord's people are Christ's
children. And any good pastor will look
upon God's children and Christ's children as my little children. I look upon you that way. Yes,
some of you are older than I am. But with regard to the gospel
and with regard to the pastoral care that the Lord has given
to me here in this place, I refer to you as my little children. John spoke of the children of
God and of Christ as my little children seven times in this
epistle. This phrase undoubtedly was a
favorite phrase of John the Apostle. Seven times in this epistle,
and it is not a long letter. It is only five chapters. But seven times in this epistle,
John refers to the children of God as my little children. In chapter 4 verse 4, John assured
his little children that you are of God. And if you are of
God, John says, you are my little children. In chapter 2 verse
12, John assures his little children that your sins are forgiven you
for Christ's name sake. In chapter 3 verse 7, John assures
his little children that he who practices righteousness is righteous
just as Christ is righteous. In chapter 2 verse 28, John exhorts
his little children to abide in Christ, that when he appears,
we may have confidence and not be ashamed before him at his
coming. In chapter 3 verse 18, John exhorts
his little children to not love in word or in tongue, but in
deed and in truth. In chapter 5 verse 21, John exhorts
his little children to keep yourselves from idols. Now you should see
from all these things that John is greatly concerned about those
who are under his pastoral care. Every pastor should be. I have
this kind of care and concern for you. All of the things that
John has here said to his readers, I would say to you also, my little
children. And then here in our present
text, John assures all these little children All who are characterized
by what he said above, that notice, we have an advocate with the
Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. Oh, that is such a sweet consolation,
my little children. We have an advocate. We do not go to court and defend
ourselves. We do not stand before the judgment
seat of Christ. We do not stand before God and
dare go in there and represent ourselves. I hope we are not
such fools as that. No, no, no. We rely upon this
promise that we, God's children, have an advocate with the Father,
Jesus Christ the righteous. Now these are the people to whom
John here speaks. But I want you to notice his
admonition to my little children. He wrote, these things I write
to you so that you may not sin. Let me repeat that. These things
I write to you so that you may not sin. Well, preacher, what does that
mean? It means exactly what it says. We should ever obey the admonition
to reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin. Always do that,
my little children. Reckon yourselves to be dead
to sin. It no longer has control and
influence over you. We should ever obey the admonition
to not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should
obey it in its lusts. Romans 6 verses 11 and 12. Do not let sin reign in your
body, my little children. Christ is to be the king of your
body, not sin. If Christ is your king and Christ
is in your body, you should ever do righteous. Do not let sin reign in your
mortal body to obey it in its lust. It should ever be our resolute purpose to never
sin at all. That should be our resolute purpose.
Now be honest with me for just a moment, okay? Be honest with
me. Most times we sin, we do it on
purpose. We do it deliberately. Why do
we do that? Why do we do that? Why do we
sin purposefully? Did you not read what John said? My little children, you may not
sin. He does not give permission to
sin. He tells you that it's wrong
to sin. You may not sin and you should
live as though you will not sin. But having given that admonition,
John continues with this sweet consolation. If anyone sins,
Well, you will. You will. If anyone sins, we,
who are God's children, have an advocate with the Father,
Jesus Christ the righteous. When we sin, we are not such
fools as to represent ourselves before God and to defend ourselves. We turn to our Advocate standing
right there beside us at our side and plead with him, handle
my case, handle my case, defend me. Now having given that introduction,
let us now consider this Advocate of God's children, Jesus Christ
the righteous. First consider that our Advocate
is our Savior. His name is Jesus. This name
was given to him at his incarnation in the gospel according to Matthew
chapter 1 verse 21. Mary the Virgin had become with
child, she's pregnant Her husband knows she's still
a virgin, for they had not yet come together. At least he assumed
she was. He knew she should be, but he's
very concerned about this. What has she done? What has happened?
And an angel of the Lord came down to Joseph, husband of Mary,
and said, do not fear to take her, your wife. She is still
a virgin. and she has conceived, she will bear a son, and when
that son is born, you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save
his people from their sins. Jesus. Oh, what a sweet name
is that. This name Jesus speaks of his
great love for and interest in his people. Jesus' people are
Jehovah's people. Jehovah the Father, before the
foundation of the world, chose His people out of this world
unto salvation and to be His people. And He gave them to His
beloved Son, Jesus, for safekeeping. Ephesians chapter 1, verses 3
through 6. The Father chose His people,
said, They're Mine. Then He gave them to His Son
for safekeeping. And Jesus, in order to save his
people, laid aside his heavenly glory and came to this earth
and assumed a humanity of his people, sinners as they were. Jesus became to his people the
friend of sinners, Matthew 11, 19. What a sweet term is that. Jesus, friend of sinners. But more than that, he became
their friend who loves at all times and a brother born for
adversity, Proverbs 17, 17. Jesus, in order to save his people,
assumed their humanity, died in their place instead. He paid
in full the penalty for their sins. He obtained their salvation
and he thusly fulfilled the prophecy. He will save his people from
their sins. Behold him there on Calvary's
tree. Behold him there suspended between
heaven and earth. Behold him there in his dying
agony. But behold him and listen to
him as he shouts in glorious victory just before he dies he
shouts it is finished and when he shouted that the prophecy
was fulfilled that Jesus will save his people from their sins.
Now this one who is the Savior from our sins has become our
advocate if we sin. He will not permit even one of
those sins from which he saved us to condemn us. He sent those
sins away. He washed those sins away. He
took those sins away, cast them behind God's back. They will
never be seen again. And not one of them will ever
raise its ugly head before God to condemn God's children. And
ah, there is Satan. He is called the accuser of our
brethren in Revelation 12 verse 10. Satan will tempt you to sin
and then run to God to accuse you for what you've done. Oh,
he sinned, he sinned, I saw it. Well, Jesus stands by the side
of his sinful people when they sin. and he prevails over every
charge Satan raises against us. Jesus is the name of our advocate. Second, observe that our advocate
is Jehovah's Anointed for he is Christ. Now Jesus is his name,
Christ is his title. This title, Christ, identifies
Jesus as Jehovah's Anointed One in the second Psalm. There we
read that Jesus is Jehovah's anointed son, that he was begotten
in eternity by an eternal generation, that he is co-eternal and co-glorious
with his father. Jehovah says, this day have I
begotten thee. He does not refer to any day
in the time, but he refers to that eternal day, even before
the foundation of the world. As long as there has been God
the Father, there has been God the Son. And Jesus is His anointed
Son, the Christ. And Jehovah says, I have anointed
Him to be the King over all the earth. Notice that our Advocate
is the Christ, Jehovah's Anointed Son, and Jehovah's Anointed King. Our Advocate is therefore divine,
having God's power and authority. He has authority over every sin. He has authority and power to
silence every sin if they ever rise up to condemn his people. Our Advocate is the Christ. Third, our advocate is just,
for he is the righteous one. Being the righteous one, when
he defends his people, he will always do the right thing, and
he will do the right thing rightly. He will never be unprepared to
defend his people. Oh, what a sad situation that
would be if you were called into a court of law, and you were
there before the judge, and your attorney comes in to defend you,
and you find out that he's been having a good time, he's been
partying or doing this or that, and has not even prepared for
your case. What a sad situation. in which
you would find yourself, not so with Jesus. He is never unprepared
to defend his people. He will never be lax in defending
his people. He is a vigorous attorney. He is a vigorous advocate. And he will never take a bribe
against anyone whom he defends. An attorney on this earth may
do so, may do any of these things. He may be unprepared to defend
you. He may be lax in defending you. He might even take a bribe against
you, but not Jesus Christ. He is the righteous one. Our advocate is the just one. Furthermore, righteousness is
not only the character of our advocate, but righteousness also
is his plea when he defends us He does not plead that we are
righteous because he pleads for sinners. If you never sinned,
you would never need an advocate, would you? But if anyone sinned,
we have an advocate. Jesus does not stand before the
judge and say, Moose Parks is righteous. He doesn't do that.
He says, no, Moose Parks has sinned. I acknowledge that. He acknowledges that. And you
know that. Oh, your honor, but I'm going
to plead for this sinner. But here's my plea. First, I
plead that I myself, my advocate says, I plead that I am righteous. For my name is Jesus Christ the
righteous. Oh, your honor, you know that,
do you not? Yes, you're right, son. You are
the righteous one. Furthermore, Your honor, you
know that my righteousness has been imputed to most parts. You know that, do you not, your
honor? That is true, my son. Your righteousness has been imputed
to most parts. And your honor, you know that
you made me to be to Moose Parks Jehovah our righteousness according
to Jeremiah 23 verse 6 that is true my son when I sent you into
the world I told Moose Parks and the rest of my people I said
this is the name by which my son shall be called Jehovah our
righteousness and oh my father oh judge you know that you have
made Moose Parks to be the righteousness of God in me, your son. You know that, do you not? Oh,
yes, my son. I know that. I know that. That's
written in 2 Corinthians 5, 21. Therefore, my advocate says of
himself, I am righteous. My righteousness has been imputed
to my people. I am to them Jehovah our righteousness
and in me they are the righteousness of God and the judge must surely
respond case dismissed. I rule in favor of the accused
the accused is not only not guilty the accused is righteous all
because of Jesus Christ our righteousness and our advocate. Fourth, our
advocate is constantly successful. For always, note what John writes,
always we have, present tense, an advocate with the Father,
Jesus Christ the righteous. Jesus Christ the righteous was
my advocate not only on Calvary, He will be my advocate, not only
at the final judgment, rather Jesus Christ the righteous is
the advocate of his people every time they sin, every time they
are accused of sin, and he always wins every case. Now this is the advocate for
God's people, Jesus Christ the righteous, Our advocate is our
Savior, for he is Jesus. Our advocate is Jehovah's Anointed,
for he is the Christ. Our advocate is just, for he
is the righteous one. And our advocate is constantly
and ever successful. We are not so foolish as to represent
ourselves before God the judge. Rather, our Advocate tells us
that we need not speak in God's courtroom, for He will speak
for us, Jesus, our Savior. defends us from every sin from
which he saved us, and he saved us from all our sins. Jesus Christ,
God's Son and anointed King, has authority and power to defend
us, and Jesus Christ the righteous will never lose a case. Oh, my little children, when
we sin, Jesus Christ is our advocate before the Father. Now let me ask you this, every
one of you, every one of you, is he your advocate? Is Jesus Christ your advocate
before the Father? Or are you such a fool as to
represent yourself and brag about whom and what you are. God forbid
that you should be such a fool as that. I'm telling you, I'm exhorting
you. Yea, I'm even pleading with you,
that if you have never confessed your sins, do so right now. Do so right now. Know that the
blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, will cleanse you from your
sins. And then know this, he always
will be your advocate. He who saved you from your sins
will be your advocate when you sin. Is Jesus Christ the righteous
your advocate?