Our subject for this evening
is the Sinner's Advocate. The Sinner's Advocate. John says in 1 John chapter 2,
My little children, these things write I unto you, that you sin
not. Now I wish I could speak on this
the way I should speak on it. Sin is no more excusable in the
gospel than it is in the law. These things write I unto you
that you sin not. Sin is an infinite evil. You know what tells us that?
Christ crying out, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? When sin was found in the beloved,
God forsook him. And understand this, he wasn't
forsaken him for somebody else's sin. Our sin became his sin. That's why God forsook him. But
even when sin was found in his only begotten and well-beloved
son, sin is such an evil that he forsook him. And there's never
a reason for sin, and there's never an excuse for sin. Sin
in thought, sin in word, in tongue, sin in deed, sins of commission,
sins of omission. secret sin, presumptuous sin,
the sinfulness of our evil nature. John says, I'm writing these
things to you that you sin not. That's my reason for writing
that you sin not. Now, what did he say to him when
he said these things? Write I unto you that you sin
not. Let's look back in chapter one. This then, verse five, this then
is the message which we've heard of him and declaring to you that
God is light and in him is no darkness at all. Now this is
speaking of God's awesome holiness. It's in light of him that we
see sin. God's awesome holiness. And he is the light as to how
God can accept somebody like me. I love it when the Lord said,
I'm the light of the world. And it was in light of that woman
being taken in adultery in the very act. He's the light as to
how God can say in Christ, I don't condemn you. Look in verse six. If we say that we have fellowship
with him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth. If we say we have fellowship
with him, if we say we have communion with him, if we say we pray to
him and he hears us and we speak to him and he speaks to us and
we have a relationship with him. If we say we have fellowship
with him and walk in darkness. Now that's talking about walking
in the darkness of salvation by works. That's exactly what
he's talking about. He's not talking about that if
you sin in the dark and nobody knows about it, that's not a
good thing, but that's not what he's talking about. He says if
we say and claim we have a fellowship and relationship with him and
we walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth. We're not being
real. Verse 8. Here's what he said
to them that they sin not. If we say that we have no sin.
We deceive ourselves. and the truth is not in us. Now
he's writing this to us that we sin not. If we say we have
no sin and there he's talking about a sinful nature. Is there
ever a time in your experience if you're a child of God when
you don't have to say, oh wretched man that I am. Who should deliver
me from this body of death? What I hate, I do. What I want to do, I do not do. That's the way Paul put it. I
was listening to a man just recently preaching from that passage of
scripture. He said, sometimes I end up doing what I hate. I
was thinking, that's not what Paul said. He said it was all
the time. And then he said in verse nine,
if we confess our sins, That doesn't just simply mean admit
to sinning. It means you're at full agreement
with God concerning your sin. You take his side. You take sides
with him against yourself. You're at full agreement with
what he says about your sin. It's not just admitting to it.
It's taking God's side and confessing what God says with regard to
your sin. If we confess our sins, He is
faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse
us from all unrighteousness." Now look at this next thing he
says, if we say we've not sinned at any time, under any circumstance,
I don't care what we've done. I don't care if it's when I'm
preaching or praying or reading the Bible. If we say we've not
sinned with regard to anything we've ever done, we make him
a liar. And His Word is not in us. Now
I'm telling you this stuff so you won't sin. You're telling me that I have
a continual evil nature, that the only thing I'm to do about
my sins is confess them and agree with God and that everything
I do is sin. You're telling me that about
myself and then you're telling me not to sin? Yeah. Yes. Now is he giving the idea that maybe we
can experience sinless perfection here in the flesh? You know better than that. Here's
the point. The only people who see sin for
what it is and see that everything they do is sin, and everything
that they are is sin. The only people who see that
are people who have a holy nature. That's why they see that. And
they do not want to sin. None of them do. They hate sin. They hate themselves for sin
and they do not want to sin. These things write I unto you
that you sin not. I think it's interesting why
he wrote to him. That's not what the world would say. Here's what
you need to do. You need to suppress this, and you need to put yourself
in this position, and you need to stay away from this influence,
and you need to start doing this and quit doing that in order
to not sin. But he says, all you are is sin, and all you do
is sin. These things write unto you that
you sin not. That's not the way the world
is. That's just not the way of the world. And look what it says
next though. And if any man sin. Now the word if, look in chapter
three, verse two. Beloved, now are we
the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall
be, but we know that when he shall appear, that word when
is the same word translated if in every one of these verses
that I just read. It wouldn't make sense to say if
he shall appear because we know he will appear. When he shall
appear, and as a matter of fact, when would fit good in every
one of these verses, wouldn't it? Verse six in chapter one,
when we say we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness,
we lie and do not the truth. Verse seven, but when we walk
in the light, is he in the light, we have fellowship one with another.
In the blood of Jesus Christ, his son cleanses us from all
sin. When we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the
truth is not in us. When we confess our sins, he
is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness. When we say we've not sinned,
we make him a liar and his word is not in us. My little children,
these things write unto you that you sin not and when any man
sin, He's not supposing that sinless perfection is possible
in this life. We'd like it, wouldn't we? We'd
be plumb happy if that's the way it was. But he says, when
you do. Thank God for this. When you
do, we have an advocate with the Father. This is the blessing
of every believer. We have an advocate with the
Father, a lawyer, an attorney, a mediator with the Father, one
who will plead our cause. Isn't that wonderful? When you sin, we have an advocate
with the Father. Notice it doesn't say when we
sin, we don't have the advocate anymore. No, not at all. When
we sin, we have an advocate with the Father. We had this advocate
before the sin. And we have this advocate during
the sin. And we have this advocate after
the sin. When any man sin, we have an
advocate with the Father. And our advocate happens to be
the son of the judge. What pull he has. Now, he names our advocate with
the father. Jesus Christ, the righteous. Now what a name, what a precious
name for a sinner, Jesus. You know what his name means?
Savior. Thus I call His name Jesus, for
He shall save His people from their sins. That's what I need.
I need to be saved from my sins. That's what I need my advocate
and lawyer to do for me, to save me from my sins. His name is
called Jesus Christ. The Messiah, God's anointed,
God's prophet, the one who brings me God's word so that I can hear.
God's priest who brings me to God so I can be accepted. God's
king, I need him to be king to rule over me and reign over me
and cause me to do his will and cause me to believe his gospel.
I need his sovereign kingship. Jesus Christ, and I love what
he says next, the righteous. The altogether righteous. He's
not a lawyer looking for loopholes to get you out of the predicament
he's in. He's altogether righteous. And he gets you off in a completely
righteous way. And this is something that I
think is so mysterious and glorious about our lawyer. Our lawyer,
first of all, has a 100% success rate. Not only does he have a 100%
success rate, he lacks the ability to fail. Whoever he represents,
they're in good shape. What a lawyer. Would you like
to have a lawyer like that? And our lawyer Doesn't make his clients
plead not guilty. He makes up every one of them
plead guilty. Guilty as charged. No excuse, no extenuating circumstances. I'm guilty, I'm guilty, I'm guilty. Every one of his clients are
made to plead guilty as charged. And yet, our glorious lawyer
is going to cause the judge to declare them to be not guilty,
justified. They've always done that which
is right, and they've never done that which is wrong. Now you
want to talk about a lawyer. If I have a lawyer like this,
I'm not going to do anything but let him do all the talking.
Not let him do it, I'm just going to keep my mouth shut. And I
want him to represent me, and that's it. If any man sin, when
any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ,
the righteous. Now, verse two, here is how he
makes all of his clients plead guilty and yet makes every one
of his clients justified. Here's how. And he is the propitiation. for our sins. Now that word means
a guilt removing sacrifice. You plead guilty but your only
hope is that He removes the guilt. And the only way the guilt can
be removed is if the reason for the guilt is removed. Sin. Now that's what a propitiation
is. He's a propitiatory sacrifice
and the word is very simple. It's a big word. We don't use
it much. We don't hear it in English much, but it's in the
Bible. A sin removing, a guilt removing sacrifice. Now that's
how his clients are declared to be not guilty because he removes
their guilt. He removes their sin. So it is
no more. Turn to Hebrews chapter 8. This
will show the power of this propitiation. Verse 12. For I will. I love it when God says I will.
And that word merciful is actually propitious. The translators translated
merciful, but it is propitious. I will be propitious to their
unrighteousness. You know what that means? I will
be a sin-removing sacrifice and a guilt-removing sacrifice. So there is no more sin, there
is no more guilt. I will be propitious to their
unrighteousness and their sins and their iniquities will I remember
no more. How much sin do you have fresh
on your conscience? I don't want you to tell me audibly,
I'm just, this is rhetorical. If you're a believer, do you
know that God does not remember that sin that you remember right
now? And you know the reason why he doesn't remember it? Because
it has been removed and there is nothing there to remember.
That's why. Their sins and their iniquities
I will remember no more because he said I will be propitious.
I will remove their guilt. I will remove their sin. And
that's what the sacrifice of Christ is. And that's how he
can be an advocate for his people because he's removed their sin
and he has removed their guilt. Turn to Luke 18 that passage
of scripture Don just read. Lord willing In a couple of weeks,
I'm gonna start preaching through the book of Acts on, I guess,
Sunday nights. But in the very first statement,
Luke said, this former treatise have I written unto you concerning
all that Jesus began both to do and to teach. That's quite
a subject, isn't it? all that Jesus began both to
do and to teach. That's going to be fun talking
about what all he has done. But I thought, what would be
the one passage of scripture that you could use to say this
is what he taught? And I thought about it. I mean,
I'm sure you could go to every passage of scripture in some
respect, but I thought of the parable of the publican and the
Pharisee. He talked about this man who
by his own admission was guilty. God be merciful to me, the sinner. And the Lord, without giving
an explanation as to how this was, said, I say unto you, that
man went down to his house justified. Now when that publican was crying,
God be merciful to me the sinner. The word is actually God be propitious. God be propitious. Now this man
understood two things. He understood he was the sinner. And the only way he could be
saved is for God to do something about his sin. Now do you understand
that? You're a sinner, and the only
way you can be saved is for God himself to do something about
your sin. You can't do anything about it.
You can't make it go away, but he can. through the perpetuatory
sacrifice of Christ where He causes it to be removed, there
is no guilt. And that's what this publican
was trying. You see, if you understand you're
a sinner, you know God's not going to just overlook your sin.
God's holy, He's just. And you'll understand, you'll
have some understanding that the only way your sin can be
dealt with is for Him to do something about it. nothing you can do
about it. I must have him to be the perpetuatory
sacrifice for my sin to remove it and to cause it to not be."
Now, the explanation for propitiation, I love this. Turn to 1st John
chapter 4, verse 10. Herein is love. How many times have you described
somebody and said, boy, they really love the Lord? I've described
people like that. They really love the Lord. John
doesn't say anything like that, does he? He didn't talk about
our love to Christ. He says, herein is love, not
that we love God. I'm not going to talk about our
love as the defining of love. Not that we love God. but that
He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation, the sin
removing, the guilt removing sacrifice for our sins. Now,
you've heard preachers say God's love is unconditional. No, it's
not. There is no such thing in the universe as unconditional
love. Somebody says, I want God to love me unconditionally. He
can't do it and still be God. He can't do it and still be just.
I want you to love me unconditionally. What I mean by that is I want
you to put up with my bad behavior and I don't necessarily have
to change it and you still got to love me anyway. That's what that means. Unconditional
love. There's no such thing. God makes
it to where I'm worthy of his love because the sin has been
removed. The guilt has been removed. And
God looks at me and He can't help but love me. I'm just like
His Son. I'm perfect. I'm righteous in
Him. God's love is not unconditional. He can't love somebody unconditionally. He loves His people as they are
in Christ. And it's because of the perpetuatory sacrifice. Now
remember this. Perpetuation means the guilt
is removed. I walk around with a cloud of
guilt over my head all the time but I don't need to. The guilt
has been removed because the sin has been removed. Herein is love, not that we love
God, we're not going to use our love for God in that definition,
but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation. The guilt removing, sin removing
sacrifice for our sins. And that's what he did. Turn
to Hebrews chapter two. Verse 17. Wherefore in all things it behooved
him to be made like unto his brethren, that's me and you,
those he's united with. those he's one with and he's
not ashamed to call them his brethren. In all things it behooved
him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a
merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God to
make reconciliation. And there the word is to make
propitiation. The translator's translated reconciliation
here, but the reason he can be a merciful and faithful high
priest. and always be touched by the
feelings of our infirmities is because he made propitiation. He removed the guilt. He removed
the sin. Turn with me to Romans chapter
3. Now this is why Christ is such an almighty advocate because
of his propitiation. He is the propitiation for our
sins. Romans chapter 3 verse 24. Let's start in verse 23. For all have sinned and come
short of the glory of God. Now, if you want a good definition
of sin, here's one, coming short of the glory of God. Now, do
you have anything about you that measures up to the glory of God?
Any action, any thought, any deed? This lets you know that
you're nothing but sin, because sin is anything that does not
measure up to the glory of God. For all have sinned and come
short of the glory of God, being justified freely by his grace
through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God has
set forth to be a propitiation. There's that word again. whom
God has set forth to be of propitiation. Now that word set forth means
two things and both of them are applicable to this verse. First
it means foreordained. Christ was foreordained. by the
decree, counsel, and purpose of God to be a propitiation for
our sins. He's called the Lamb slain from
the foundation of the world. The sin question was taken care
of before there was anything called time. He was foreordained
to be the propitiation for our sins. And the word also means
to display. to set forth, to make conspicuous. And what is the gospel? It's
making conspicuous His propitiation. That's what we're doing in the
preaching of the gospel. That's what the Bible does. It makes conspicuous. It makes powerful and real and
obvious that His propitiation is everything in our salvation. Now what's set forth? What's
set forth as a propitiation, as a sin-removing sacrifice? Well, let me tell you this. It ain't your faith. Your faith
never put away one sin. It's not your repentance. Your
repentance never put away one sin. It's not your sincerity. Your
sincerity never put away one sin. The only perpetuatory sacrifice
is the precious blood of Christ. Nothing less, nothing more, nothing
else. He is the propitiation. And notice
what it says in verse 25. whom God hath set forth to be
a propitiation, and look at this next phrase, through faith in
His blood. Now in this thing of faith, you
have two things going on. You got belief and you got trust.
You believe, you believe at the blood of Christ. is a perpetuatory sacrifice that
actually removes guilt. And you trust His blood as your
only perpetuatory sacrifices. You look to Christ alone. You
look to His blood alone. You don't look anywhere else.
You don't look at anything you've done. You look to His blood alone. Now, do you believe His blood
is a perpetuation? Do you believe that His sacrifice
actually removed sin and removed guilt. Do you believe that if
He died for you, you must be saved because your sin is propitiated,
it's gone, the sin is removed, the guilt is removed? Are you
presently relying on His perpetuatory sacrifice as the sole and only
ground of your acceptance? Now you can answer that with
a yes or no. You can answer that right now. Do you have faith in His blood? this blood that declares his
righteousness. Look what he says in verse 25,
to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that
are passed through the forbearance of God. To declare, I say at
this time, his righteousness that he might be just and the
justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. Now, you believe that
through his perpetuatory sacrifice, God is completely righteous and
just in his dealings with you because the sin has been removed,
the guilt has been removed, and God's righteousness is displayed
in your salvation. Now, here is the righteous lawyer
pleading our cause, the perpetuation. guilt removing sacrifice of himself. He pleads his own blood. That's
what he pleads before the Father. That's how he pleads as our advocate.
His perpetuatory sacrifice. Not your sorrow. They're really
sorry. They've repented. They won't do it anymore. I'll
watch out for you. No. All he does is present his
sacrifice. Hebrews 9, 12 says, Neither by
the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood, he entered
in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption
for us. That's what he did. And that's
the ground of his advocacy. Now, who did he do this for?
Go back to our text. This is what we're close with.
Who did he do this for? He is the propitiation for our
sins. Who is the hour? Am I included
in that demographic? Well, he's the propitiation for
our sins. and not for ours only, but also
for the sins of the whole world. And you'll notice the sins of
the whole world is in italics. It really shouldn't be there.
The translators put it there, but he says, he's not just for
us, but also for the whole world. Now, what's that mean? Exactly
what it says. Same world of John 3, 16. God so loved the world that he
gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should
not perish but have eternal life. He's the Savior of the world.
You know, he wouldn't have said, not for us only, but also for
the whole world, that he believed that Christ died for the sins
of all men without exception. There wouldn't have been any
point in saying that. He said, not just us Jews only, not just
the people I'm writing to, but for the sins of the whole world.
Jews, Gentiles, white, black, rich, poor, educated, uneducated. Anybody in this world, he's the
only hope they have. That's why we're to go into all the world
and preach the gospel to every creature. Because the only hope
any man has is Christ himself. what he did, who he is, and where
he is. Now you know as well as I do
that the world does not mean all men without exception. It just doesn't mean that. As
a matter of fact, it doesn't mean that one time on the word.
You look up that word every time it's used in the New Testament,
not once does it mean all men without exception. It just doesn't
mean that. It's being dishonest with the
text to try to use something like that to say, see, Jesus
Christ died for the sins of all men without exception. No, he
didn't. He died for a sheep. He died for the elect. He died
for the sins of the whole world. There's nothing wrong with saying
that. God says it, it's a good way to say it. If he says it
that way, it's a good way to say it. It's nothing we need
to be careful about or apologize for. He's not a propitiation
just for us, but also for the whole world. I love it where Christ said he
gave his life a ransom for many. Now, the word many means More than a few, and not
everybody. That's simple, isn't it? The
word many means more than a few. Oh, he died for a great multitude
that no man can number. 10,000 times 10,000 and thousands
and thousands. Many is a big number, but it's
not everybody. He died for many. Now, how can I know if he died
for me? How can I know if I'm included
in that hour? He's the propitiation for our
sins and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole
world. Do you have faith in his blood? Are you relying? on His propitiatory
sacrifice as the only way you can come into God's presence
and be accepted. Do you say with that publican
in the temple beating on his breast, God, be propitious. Do something about my sin. Remove
it. Take away its guilt. There's
nothing I can do about it. The only hope I have is in what
you do about it. If you pray that prayer, yes,
He is the propitiation of your sins. The guilt is gone because
the sin has been removed. He was manifested to take away
our sins. And in Him is no sin. These things, John says, I write
unto you so that you won't sin. There's never an excuse for sin.
Sin's never okay. Don't ever think, well, the blood
covers it. I don't need to worry about it.
I'm in good shape. Good to go. Don't think anything
like that. These things write unto you that
you sin not when you do, which is all the time. We have
an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous. Let's pray.