Our Advocate - Christ

Q: What does the Bible say about God being light?

The Bible declares that God is light, meaning He is holy, just, and without any darkness. 1 John 1:5 states unequivocally that 'God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.' This declaration emphasizes the absolute holiness and purity of God. In Scripture, light represents truth, righteousness, and the absence of sin. In contrast, darkness symbolizes sin, ignorance, and moral failure. Understanding that God is light is crucial for recognizing our own sinful nature and the need for holiness to approach Him. As John elaborates, one cannot claim to have fellowship with God while walking in darkness; the two are mutually exclusive.

Q: How do we know that Christ is our Advocate?

Scripture assures us that Christ is our Advocate, interceding for us before the Father. In 1 John 2:1, it is explicitly stated that 'if anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.' This role of Christ as our Advocate is essential because it highlights His intercessory work on our behalf. When we sin, He does not cast us away but instead pleads our case, presenting His perfect righteousness as our defense. His advocacy is grounded in His sacrificial death, which satisfied the demands of divine justice. Thus, believers can rest assured that they have an eternal assurance of forgiveness and reconciliation through Him.

Q: Why is understanding our sinfulness important for Christians?

Recognizing our sinfulness is crucial as it leads us to understand our need for Christ's righteousness. Throughout the sermon, it is evident that acknowledging our sinfulness is a fundamental aspect of the Christian faith. Romans 3:23 tells us, 'For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.' This recognition is not merely about admitting past wrongs but understanding our innate sinful nature inherited from Adam. If we deny this, we deceive ourselves, as stated in 1 John 1:8, where it says, 'If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.' This understanding drives believers to Christ, the only source of righteousness and forgiveness. Without acknowledging our sin, the grace of God and the necessity of Christ's sacrifice lose their significance.

Let's open our Bibles to the
book of 1 John, chapter 1 of 1 John. Now John, beginning with verse
1 in this epistle, talks about
the Lord Jesus Christ. And he says, that which was from
the beginning, in the beginning was the Word he wrote earlier,
and the Word was with God and the Word was God, and all things
were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that
was made. And that Word which was in the
beginning with God and who was God was made flesh and dwelt
among us. And that's the one he's talking
about here, and we beheld his glory. He said, that which was
from the beginning, which we've heard, we heard him, which we've
seen, we beheld his glory. I saw him, he said, with my eyes,
which we've looked upon, and our hands have handled. Our
Lord said, reach hither thy hands. and touch my hands and my side,
and be not faithless but believing." He said, I've handled him. The
word of life. And then in parenthesis, he said,
for the life, Christ is the life, was manifested. Great is the
mystery of godliness. God was manifested. in human
flesh, it was manifested, the life which is the light and life
of all men walked this earth. We've seen it. And bear witness and show unto you that eternal
life which was with the Father from
the beginning. I was daily his delight, he said,
and was manifested to us. Now, verse 3, that which we've
seen, and he says it over and over again, we've seen and heard,
declare we unto you, we preach Christ, that you also may have fellowship
with us. And truly, our fellowship is
with the Father. This is the fellowship I'm talking
about. The family of God. Not a religious organization,
denomination, association. This is the family of God I'm
talking about. Our fellowship is with the Father.
and with his Son, Jesus Christ. This, when our Lord prayed in
Gethsemane, and when he prayed that high
priestly prayer, wherever it was, he said, Thou hast given me power
over all flesh, that I should give eternal life. That eternal life, that I should
give to all that you've given me." And this is life eternal. This is it. "...that they might
know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast
sent." Our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son,
Jesus Christ. That's what we're talking about.
And verse 4, "...and these things write we unto you, that your
joy may be full." This is the... this is it. What's the message? Verse 5,
this is the message. Do you have a word for this world?
Oh yes, it's the same word that John had for this world. This
then is the message. This is the message. which we've
heard of Him. We saw Him, we heard Him, our
hands handled Him, of the Word of life, that eternal life, which
was with the Father and manifested to us. We saw Him, we heard Him,
our hands touched Him. We beheld Him. This is what He
said. This then is the message which
we heard of Him. And we declare unto you. I have no other message, I have
no other reason to be here. It's His message, which we heard
of Him, and we declare unto you. And this is what it is. Now listen
to it. Listen carefully. That God is light. This, then,
is the message that He told us, which we heard of Him, and we
declare unto you. And this is it. God is light.
And in God there's no darkness at all. Let this be established. This is the message. What does
this mean? It means this, God is holy. That's what John is saying here.
This is the message that we heard from him in which we declare
unto you that God is holy, God is just, God is righteous, God
is verity and truth, God is exact in his judgment. He is righteous. And in him there's no darkness
at all, there's no alloy, there's no compromise, there's no clearing
of the guilty. He requires absolute perfection. He can accept no less. This then
is a message that we heard of him and declared to you that
God is holy, God is light, God is truth. And in him there is
no error, there is no untruth, there is no compromise, there
is no alloy. It's pure, perfect holiness. That's the message. You see,
this is what Job and his friends wrestled with over and over again
in the book of Job. You want to turn over there just
a moment to Job chapter 9. This is what they wrestled with.
In Job chapter 9, verse 1, Job answered and said, I know it's
so of a truth, but how should man be just with God? I know
God is holy. One word that identifies the
living God is Holiness. God is holy. This is a holy Bible. His angels are holy angels. He's
in his holy temple. The seraphims and cherubims cry,
holy, holy, holy. The high priest had on his mitre
holiness to the Lord. He dwelleth in a light to which
no man can approach. He said to Moses, you cannot
look upon me and live because I'm holy. His tabernacle is called
the Holy of Holies. That's what John said. This is
the message. God is holy. And that's what
Job... Look at Job chapter 15. They
kept asking this question. How can man be just with God?
Job 15 verse 14. What is man that he should be
clean? Job 15 verse 14. What is man
that he should be clean? And he which is born of woman,
that he should be righteous. Behold, he putteth no trust in
his saints, yea, the heavens are not clean in God's sight. How much more abominable and
filthy is man, which drinketh iniquity like water. Turn to
Job twenty-five. Listen to this. Job twenty-five, verse four. How then can man be justified
with God? How can he be clean that's born
of a woman? Behold, even to the moon it shineth
not, the stars are not pure in his sight, how much less man
that is a worm, and the Son of Man which is a worm. You understand
what I'm saying? Go back to the text, 1 John 1
verse 5. This then is the message we heard
of him, and declare unto you that God
is light, God is holy, and in him there's no darkness at all,
no compromise, no unrighteousness, no untruth, nothing that worketh or maketh
a lie, pure, perfect holiness. Now, verse 6, so if we say, and there are a whole lot of folks
that say this today, if we say that we have fellowship with
Him, we say that we know this God,
that we talk to this God and He talks to us, we walk with
this God and He walks with us. And we walk in darkness, we're lying, and we do not the
truth. Because he said, this God is
light, and in Him there is no darkness.
No darkness walks with Him. Now, if a person today, it doesn't
matter the pulpit or the pew, religious or otherwise, If he
claims that he walks with God, he may walk with his God or a
God. But John says God, the living
God, the almighty God, the God who made the heavens and earth,
is holy. He is holy. He has light in Him. There is
no darkness. And there is no place for darkness.
There's no room for darkness. There's no entrance of darkness.
He's light. And if we say, that we have fellowship, fellows
in the same ship with Him, and we walk in the darkness of human
nature and worldliness, and the darkness
of unbelief and ignorance, and the darkness of traditional religion,
and the darkness of our self-righteousness, And the darkness of our imagination
and the darkness of our thoughts, we're lying. It's impossibility. It's an impossibility. God is
holy. And any man who has a true knowledge
of God and true fellowship with God and a true relationship with
God must be holy. Isn't that right? He must be
light. What is our light? What is our
righteousness? What is our holiness? Where is
our righteousness and holiness? What is it that we claim? What is it that we have? What
is it that we say that we have that equips us and enables us
to have a union and a fellowship and a relationship with God? Now, Bob and I have a relationship,
a friendship, a fellowship, but we're just alike. He's a human
being, I'm a human being. He's a man, I'm a man. He likes
the things I like, I like the things he likes. Same thing with
many of you. But God's not a man. God's not a man. God is God. God is light. He said, this is
the message. Do you hear me, John said, this
is the message I got from Christ. And I'm passing on to you, God
is holy, God is light. In Him there is no darkness.
And if we say that we're one with Him, we walk with Him, we
talk with Him, He talks with us, we have fellowship with Him,
we're moving in the same direction, we're pals, we're buddies, we're
friends, And I have all this darkness
of ignorance and unbelief and flesh and religion and tradition,
and I think, I imagine, I believe, I somewhat think I'm a liar and
the truth's not in me. Well, is it possible for a man
to walk with God? Yes, sir. But he's got to be
in the light too. Is it possible for man to have
fellowship with God? Yes, sir. Yes, it is. If he's like God, if he has God's
nature, if he has God's holiness, if he has God's righteousness,
if he has God's truth, if he's God's nature begotten in him,
then he can walk with God. And here it is in verse 7. But,
but, if we walk in the light, as He's in the life. We've got
to walk in the same life as He's in the life. Then we have fellowship
with Him, with one another. This one another is not fellowship
between you and me, that will be there, if we're both in Him. But we have fellowship with Him.
If we walk in the light as He is in the light, if we walk in
holiness as He is in holiness, if we walk in righteousness as
He's in righteousness, we have fellowship one with another,
God with us. And the blood of Jesus Christ,
God's Son, cleanseth us from all sin. The only way I can walk
with God is to have no sin. Isn't that right? The only way that I can know
God, see God, have fellowship with God, is to be in the light
of God's holiness and have no sin. And where do I get that?
In Christ. Let me show you that in John
1. Turn over here to John chapter
1. John chapter 1, and this then
is the message. In John chapter 1, verse 6, listen
to it. There was a man, John 1, verse
6, there was a man whom God sent, sent from God, whose name was
John. And that John, that same man, came for a witness, to bear
witness of the Light, the Light, capital L-I-G-H-T,
the Light, Christ. that all men through Him, through
that light, might believe. John was not that light. He was
sent to bear witness of that light. That One of whom he bore
witness, He was the true light. That light is every man that
cometh into the world. He was in this world, and the
world was made by Him, and the world didn't know Him. He came
unto His own, His own received Him not. But as many as received
Him, the light, To them gave He the power, the right to become
sons of God. He's my light. He's my holiness. He's my righteousness. He's my
acceptance. Even to them that believe on
His name, which were born not of blood, not of natural genealogy,
not of the will of the flesh, not of the will of man. Turn
to II Corinthians. Let me show you this again. II
Corinthians chapter 4. old Augustus Toplady, who wrote
Rock of Ages. He lived in 1740, died 38 years
of age. Great preacher. He took an oddly
strange mathematical approach to seeing. He wrote one time
that we see in every second, every second, 1,001, 1,002, 1,003,
1,004 cents, 1,005 cents, 1,006 cents, 1,007 cents, every second. Some thought, some imagination,
some motive, some direction, some... In fact, he said if a
man lived to be 80, he's guilty of two and a half billion cents. Two and a half billion cents.
No wonder he wrote, Rock of Ages, cleft for me, let me hide myself
in thee. Let the water and the blood from
thy wounded side which flowed be of sin, the double cure, save
from wrath." Save from wrath and make me pure. Because I can't
walk with God unless I'm as holy as God. All sin. Could my tears forever flow?
Could my zeal know respite? No. These for sin could never
atone. Christ must save. Christ alone. 2 Corinthians 4, look at this. Verse 3, "...our gospel be hid,
as hid to them that are lost." See, this is what men do not
see. They do not see the holiness of God. This, then, is the message. God is light. In Him there's
no darkness. God is light. No compromise. No bending. Well, I think God
will overlook. No, sir. God is light. And the only way that I'm ever
going to approach God, have fellowship with God, be received of God,
is to be in that light, in that holiness, in that righteousness,
and that's in Christ, accepted in the Beloved. And that's hid
to this generation. They make their decisions, they
reform, they turn over a new leaf, they join the church, they
get religion, they give a little money, they do all these things,
and they're still in darkness. Ignorance. Self-righteousness.
Paul said that about the Jews. He said, I'll bear them record.
They have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. They're
ignorant of God's righteousness. They're ignorant of God's holiness.
They're ignorant that God is light. There's no compromise.
And they're going about to establish their own righteousness, to establish
their own light. And he walks in his own light,
and the sparks of his own light walks in darkness. I've got to
have his light. And he sent that light. John
bore witness of that light. Look at verse 4, 2 Corinthians
4. These people to whom this gospel's
head, the God of this world, in whom the God of this world
hath blinded their minds of them that believe not, lest the light
of the glorious gospel of Christ should shine into them. He's
the image of God. You see that? For we preach not
ourselves, we preach Christ the Lord. We preach not ourselves
in our works, in our deeds, in our religion, in our denomination,
in our way, in our salvation. We preach Christ the Lord. We're
just servants. Ourselves your servants for Christ's
sake. Verse 6, for God who commanded
the light to shine out of darkness. Back yonder when this world,
in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth and
the earth was without form and void and darkness was upon the
face of the deep and God said, let there be light. And there
was light. And in my darkness, of sin and
religion, tradition, custom, works, professions, decisionism,
rededication, tithing, Sabbath-keeping. In my darkness, God is light. He said, let there be light. For God, who commanded that same
light to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts to give
us the light of the knowledge of the holiness and glory of
God in the face of Christ Jesus. That's where it is, Tom, right
there. I have fellowship with God. I have fellowship with God because
Jesus Christ, my Lord, the light of God, the glory of God, the
holiness of God, the perfection of God, came down here in my
place and stayed. and gave me a holiness. And He
cleansed me of all my sin. You see that down here in 1 John
1, verse 7? Verse 5, He said, this is the
message. God is light. Christ didn't come down here
to change God. He said, I didn't come to destroy
the law. I didn't come to take the edge off the law. I didn't
come to make the law where you could keep it. I didn't come
to fix God so He could overlook your sins. I came to fulfill
it. Didn't come to destroy the law.
God is light. He was light before Christ came.
He's the same light when He was here. He's the same light after
He left here. Truth and holiness, no compromise. Christ didn't
change God, He changed us. He made us holy. God doesn't
change, He's immutable. And these preachers and religious
folks today, They closed the Bible and set it aside, and they're
standing in front of television cameras and microphones telling
what they think. Telling people what to do to
get to God. There's nothing you can do to get to God. Christ
did it. He died the just for the unjust to bring us to God.
And what He did, He didn't make the way easier. He made us holy. That's right. Look there at verse
7. If we walk in the light of Christ
as He is in the light, we have fellowship with God. And the
blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin. All sin. And that's the only way God can
accept us and receive us, is to be sinless. In Christ there's
no sin. Our sins are gone. I separate
your sins from you as far as the East is from the West. I
remember them no more. I block them out." Now look at verse 8. Now if we
say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves. The truth's not in
us. What is that sin? Verse 8, if
we say we have no sin. It doesn't say if we have no
sins, It says, if we say we have no sin, you know what that is? That's the root of evil. That's
the nature of evil. That's original sin. If we say
we didn't participate with Adam in his fall, we deceive ourselves,
the truth's not in us. We've got a nature of sin. What
we do is because of what we are. And one of our major problems
between us and God is not what we do, it's why we do it. That's
the reason prayer can even be a sin. Giving can be a sin if
it's given from the wrong motive. Why do we do it? That's right. If we say that root of sin is
not in us, that nature of sin is not in us, that nature of
Adam is not in us, we're deceived. Truth's not in us. And look at
verse 10. Skip verse 9 a moment. Look at
verse 10. If we say we've not sinned, if we say we have not
sinned in word, in thought, in deed, in imagination, motive, well, we make God a liar because
He said all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. His
Word's not in us. Now, the believer doesn't love
sin. He hates sin. The believer wants to be free
from sin. The believer admits his sin.
He doesn't justify his sin. He doesn't excuse his sin. Our
Lord taught us to pray every day, forgive us of our sins. Isn't that what He taught us
to pray? He taught us to pray, give us
this day our daily bread and forgive us of our sins every
day. You see, sin pollutes the best
thing we do. The highest degree of goodness
to which we can attain is marred by sin. That's so. Sin even invades our prayers.
If we say that's not true, we make God a liar. I say to every religious person
in this world, if I could have this world as an audience today,
this is the message. God is holy and we're sinners. We're sinners by nature. We're
sinners by birth. We're sinners by choice. If we
say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves. And if we say we have
not sinned, S-I-N-N-E-D, this very moment, we make God a liar. But thank God for verse 9. Look
at it. Here's the good news. If we confess
our sins, confess them to whom? Go in one of these little booths
and talk in the ear of a man? No, sir. if we confess them to
him. He that covereth his sins shall
not prosper, but whoso confesseth his sin and forsaketh them will
find mercy." If we confess, now watch it, our sins. We got no
business confessing anybody else's. David said, my sins are ever
before me, my sins. I acknowledge my transgressions.
Against thee have I sinned. If we confess our sins, look
at this. He's faithful. He's faithful
to His promise. He's faithful to His covenant.
He's faithful to His Son. He's faithful to the sacrifice
of Calvary. He's faithful to His Word. And what's this next word? And
just. Now, my friends, that's the key
to the Gospel right there. How can God be just and justify
the ungodly? That's the key. And this is what
I'm saying is the missing note in this day. How can God be just? God, this
is the message, God is just. Well, how can He be just and
justify me? This is the message, God is holy.
How can He be holy and have something to do with me? God is light. How can God be light and mess
around with darkness? Now, if you find that out, you'll
find out the gospel. Because He who is just, He died
the just for the unjust. And I was told, Paul, God has
ordained that you should see the just one. He said, I'm a
just God and a Savior. The just one came down here and
was made sin for the unjust, that the unjust might be made
just. He who is holy came down here
and was made sin. But he obeyed the law, too, and
gave us a holiness. So in Christ, I'm just. Hold
that right there and turn to Colossians 1. Listen to this.
I tell you, this is the message. God is light. If we say we have
fellowship with him walking in darkness, we're not telling the
truth. Here is Colossians 119. This is so important, so very,
very important. Hear me. Colossians 119, For
it pleased the Father that in Christ should all fullness, holiness,
righteousness, justice dwell. And having made peace through
the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things to himself,
by him I say, whether they be things in earth or things in
heaven, and you that were at one time alienated enemies, enemies
in your mind. That's where our problem is,
by wicked works, yet now has He reconciled in the body of
His flesh through His death to present you the only way God
can receive you, holy and unblamable and unreprovable in His sight.
That's the only way you can have fellowship with God. And I hear
these holiness people say, we don't sin, we're holy. Well, that's two lies. They do
sin, they're not holy, if they're resting in their righteousness.
We sin. We're holy in Christ, and we
do sin. But if we confess our sins, He's
faithful and just to forgive us our sins. But our holiness
is not in our abstinence from certain worldly rules and regulations. Our holiness is in Christ. That's how you can have fellowship
with God. If we confess our sins, He is
faithful and He's just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us,
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. You're clean. You're clean. We're sanctified by His Word
and by His blood. And this brings me to my last
point, chapter 2, verse 1. And my little children, that's
what he calls believers, little children. These things I write
unto you that you sin not. You know, people say, well, Brother
May, and you've made a statement there. Y'all be careful saying
things like, let me tell you something. You don't ever have
to be careful with the truth. Preach it. Preach it. You don't need to defend a lion,
just turn him loose. You're silly defending a lion.
Don't defend a lion, turn him loose. Turn the gospel loose.
And what I said is so. In Christ we're holy, spotless,
righteous. But tell the truth, you do sin.
You don't like it. You don't love it. You don't
excuse it. You'd like to be perfect. But you're not, and I'm not either. I'm not. But we're exhorted not
to sin, not to sin. As Spurgeon one time said, what
do you want more than anything in all the world? What do you
want more than anything in all the world? He said, I want to
be like God. That's what I want. And someday I will be. But the Apostle Paul said, the
things I would do, I don't do them. And the things I would
not do, I do them. And what I would like to be, I'm not. I'm not
what I ought to be. I'm not what I want to be. I'm
not what I'm going to be. But I'm not what I used to be.
But he says, my little children, these things I write unto you
that you sin not. Crucify the flesh, mortify the
flesh, put down the flesh. Listen, and if any man sin, thank God, We not only have a
Savior, we have a Savior. We have an Advocate. Now listen
to me. It does not say if any man sin,
he's lost. I didn't say that, does it? My
little children, these things are right unto you that you sin
not, and if any man sin, well, he's fallen from grace. No. He's
lost now. No. He's backslid. He's got to
get saved over again. No. He's forfeited his inheritance. No. He's no longer a son of God.
No. If any man's sinned, he has an
advocate. You know who needs an advocate?
Let me ask you a question. When you're watching television,
and, you know, I told Arthur the other day, I said, you know,
when I was years ago, I don't remember hospitals advertising
or lawyers advertising. Do you remember? But you see,
they're always advertising the lawyers. Well, I don't pay attention
to it because I don't need one. I don't need a lawyer. But I'll
tell you something. If I broke the law, I'd need
one. Wouldn't I? If I got in trouble tonight and
broke the law, I'd need a lawyer. And you know who I'd get the
best one I could get? I wouldn't be satisfied with
no law school graduate. I'd want a real old white-haired
veteran, wouldn't you? One that had won a lot of cases
just like mine. You know who needs a lawyer?
Guilty man. You know who needs an advocate? You need one? You need an advocate? Why? You're guilty. My soul. That's so simple, isn't
it? That's the only way I know to
preach. It's simple. It doesn't say if any man be holy, he has
an advocate. What does he need with an advocate?
It doesn't say if any man be perfect, he needs an advocate.
He doesn't need an advocate. It doesn't say if any man's righteous,
he has an advocate. He doesn't need one. If any man
sin, we have an advocate. Sinners need an advocate. Sinners
need an intercessor. Sinners need a lawyer. Sinners
need somebody to mediate for them. And when you sin, the same
One who came down here because He loved you and gave you a perfect
righteousness and died for your sin, He's the One that ever liveth
to make intercession for you. He's the One that pleads your
case. He's Jesus Christ. That's who He is. We have an
advocate. He's with the Father. Now, I'll
tell you, just anybody can't go in a courtroom and represent
somebody. It has to be approved. Isn't that right? I think I'm
right in that. I think the fellow that represents
you has to be approved of the court. My lawyer, my advocate,
he was selected, he was accepted, he was exalted, he's my court-appointed
advocate. God Almighty, made Him my advocate."
That's right. And that goes back to this, when
I started this whole thing a while ago, John said, eternal life was manifested.
And I saw Him, and I heard Him, and my hands touched Him. That
eternal life which was with the Father was manifested to us.
And this is the message that I heard from Him. And I deliver
unto you that God is holy, God is light. In Him there's no darkness.
Don't slip around. It's the full glare of His full
holiness. You're not ready to meet it,
to which no man can approach. But He said the light came, Christ
Jesus, and He cleansed us from our sins, and He gave us a righteousness. And He took us to the Father.
And in Him, we have fellowship with God and with His Son, Jesus
Christ. All right, let's sing a hymn,
Mike, if you will.

Our Advocate - Christ

What does the Bible say about God being light?

How do we know that Christ is our Advocate?

Why is understanding our sinfulness important for Christians?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

Joshua

Articles

Featured Authors

Podcast

Sermons

Featured Preachers

Books

Browse by Format

Music

Recent Comments

About

Legal

Subscribe

Account

Articles

Featured Authors

Podcast

Recent Comments

Sermons

Featured Preachers

Books

Browse by Format

Collections

Music

About

Legal

Subscribe

Our Advocate - Christ

What does the Bible say about God being light?

How do we know that Christ is our Advocate?

Why is understanding our sinfulness important for Christians?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

More from Henry Mahan

Related Sermons

Same Scripture

Articles by Henry Mahan

Books by Henry Mahan

Joshua

Where this book stands in the tradition

Plato

Augustine

The Western Christian Tradition

This Book