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“If Any Man Sin . . . .” |
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By Evangelist Larry Dishman Hurley, MS |
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“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 sins of the whole world” (1 John 2:1-2 KJV).
How tragic it would be to live without a real advocate to intercede for us. Everyone needs an intercessor. The Bible lets us know there is only one mediator between God and man, not the priest, not the pope, and not the pastor, but the Man, Christ Jesus (1 Tim. 2:5). The apostle John wrote to the church, not to encourage the saints to sin but to tell them not to sin.
There is a possibility that one can sin, so John said, “If [not when] any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” You must always remember, even though forgiveness is available and your sin can be forgiven, there will always be consequences to sin. By the grace of God, you can be forgiven of sin if you fail God, but that does not take away the consequences of sin. Therefore, it is important to guard your life, your thoughts, and your actions.
In the life of a Christian, there must never be any incentive or enticement to think lightly about sin. You must never take Christ’s advocacy and intercession for granted. I fear that is what is being done many times in the religious world. Sometimes people take the attitude, “Well, I know this is wrong, but I am going to go ahead and do it because all I have to do is turn around and ask God to forgive me.” This is the way some people live their lives, but you cannot play games with God, and that is a game.
John made it very clear that we are to walk in the light and not to walk in darkness. He wrote so much about love and having a love for the brethren. John’s relationship with the church was especially close, tender and affectionate. Therefore, he said, “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.”
A true advocate is a friend who exerts influence over another. In a court of law, an advocate pleads the case of the accused. More precious words were never spoken than these words by John.
John continued in verse 2, “And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.” This leads us to the question, “How can one fully utilize Christ’s ministry and advocacy?” As a Christian, what are you supposed to do if you fall? As a minister I believe I need to keep this before people continually, especially new converts, because when one sins, or fails God, there is an alternative to just giving up.
Some have the idea that if they make a mistake or fail God, there is nothing to do but to quit. John does not want you to do that. That is the reason he said that we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
What are you supposed to do if you mess up? You should ask God to forgive you. What should you do when the enemy of your soul convinces you that you are a worthless person and that God is finished with you because you have sinned? How are you supposed to live your life for Jesus when you know deep down inside that you have failed God? I am glad there is good news for the one whom the devil is bombarding.
Has the devil backed you into a corner by saying that you are worthless and that God is finished with you? I have good news for you if that is what the devil has been telling you. If you sin, God has provided a way for you to reconcile your fellowship, and it is through Jesus Christ. He is the propitiation for your sins. Jesus is your advocate, and He is the One Who comes along to give you aid.
Jesus Intercedes for You
Jesus said in John 14:16, “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide in you for ever.” He said in verse 26, “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” He said in John 16:7, “Nevertheless I tell you the truth; it is expedient for you that I go away; for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.”
In our text John let us know that the Holy Spirit is our Comforter. You are not left alone. You have One to help you. He will not forsake you if you fall down, but He is there to pick you up. The Bible teaches that the Holy is interceding on your behalf. “Likewise the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.”
Verse 34 tells us that Jesus intercedes for us from Heaven. It reads, “Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.” Jesus is at the right hand of God, making intercession for us as the people of God. “Jesus Christ the righteous” is the One Who is the propitiation for sin. This phrase is important because even though God in His mercy sent His Son to pay for our sins, it was not just God’s mercy that enabled us to be saved. It was Christ’s righteousness that saved us. He did no sin, and neither was guile found in His mouth (1 Pet. 2:22). He was righteous and holy.
If you are saved, at conversion His righteousness was imputed to you. Jesus is your propitiation. This means that when Jesus died for you upon the Cross of Calvary, He set you free from the guilt and the condemnation that your sins brought upon you and restored you to a right relationship with God. In other words, He won God’s favor toward you. To propitiate is to win the favor of someone by doing something that pleases him. In this case, it was Christ Who won the Father’s favor by dying for your sins. The reason that is important is that without Jesus being the propitiation for your sins, you could not get right with God. He made a sacrifice in your place. Christ pleased God; therefore, you can be a child of God.
God’s Word was given so that you could follow it and not sin. However, it has to be more than just information. You must take the information that you find in the Word of God and apply it to your life. If you ever want to experience transformation, the first aspect of overcoming sin is to cling to the Word of God.
The Psalmist said in Psalm 119:9-11, “Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according to thy word. With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments. Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.”
Your Advocate with the Father
Jesus is your advocate. When thinking of the word advocate, we naturally picture a lawyer who pleads for his defendant. The dictionary defines this word as “a person who supports or recommends a particular cause; one who pleads on someone else’s behalf.” Jesus does not have to plead on His Own behalf, but He pleads on your behalf. He is your advocate. This is for the sinner as well as for the saint.
When John got down to the end of verse 2, he said, “And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.” Thank God, that does not leave anybody out!
Christ paid the price for everyone’s sin: the good, moral person and the sinner who is in the depths of sin. Christ made a way so that everyone could be saved. No one has to go to hell because the blood was not shed for him. Hebrews 2:9 says that by the grace of God He tasted death for every man. That includes you, me, and all people. He shed His blood for all. He went to the cross for you, for me, and for all humanity. We have an advocate to intercede for us.
Again, to propitiate means to win the favor of someone by doing something that pleases him. That is what it means when the Bible says that Jesus is the propitiation for our sins. It means that He covers all of our sins with His precious blood and causes our sins to be washed away, never to be seen again.
Some people pile stuff in their backyards. They gather stuff. Have you ever seen anyone like that? The wife may say, “I wish you would do something about all that stuff out in the back yard. I wish you would get rid of all that junk.” Well, suppose the husband gets a big tarp and covers it. It is still there, but it is covered. Thank God, all my sins have been washed away by the blood of Jesus. It is wonderful to have my sins washed away, and not just covered up! God cannot see them because they have been washed away.
An advocate is only effective when the client trusts him with the truth. It does not make sense to go to court and give your lawyer half truths. The same is true when you come to Christ. You have to come clean with God. You should not go to God and say, “Well, God, if it had not been for So-and-so, I would not have gotten into this mess.”
What an Advocate Does
An advocate is only effective when the client is willing to face the proper penalties for his crime. Do you know what the penalty for committing sin is? Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death.” This has always been and always will be the penalty for sin. Sin breaks God’s heart, and sin breaks fellowship with God.
Someone likened sin to a cut or a break in an electric wire supplying power to a light bulb. If the wire is broken, electricity can no long flow through to that bulb. There must be a perfect connection from the source of power all the way to the light bulb in order for there to be light. It is the same when sin breaks your connection with God. Forgiveness is like a splice in the wire. It does not take a brand-new wire to complete the circuit, but every single break must be repaired. This is what happens when a person who has never been saved comes to God.
There is no connection between the sinner who has never been saved and God, but God makes the connection. If you have ever been a Christian and sinned willfully, you have been separated from God again. If you return to God and say, “God, I am sorry. Please forgive me,” thank God, that broken connection is reconnected and the light can shine again.
An advocate does not plead your innocence or deny the charges brought against the breaker of the law; instead, the advocate pleads for mercy. I thank God for His mercy! I am glad that when I knelt at the altar when I was eighteen years of age, God did not give me justice; He gave me mercy. That is what the sinner needs. You need mercy if you are lost without God. If you are not a Christian and you know down deep in your heart that you have done wrong, you need to cry out to God for mercy. He is plenteous in mercy. If you are fully aware of how much you need God’s mercy, forgiveness, and grace, you will truly appreciate the greatness of your advocate, Jesus Christ.
An advocate knows of many cases where clients have refused to admit their need of an advocate and suffered the consequences. Jesus, the heavenly advocate, is aware of the millions who have failed to realize the free benefits of His service. Consequently, He is more eager to get His clients free because of the disastrous consequences suffered by those who have failed to rely on His services.
An advocate possesses great compassion for his clients. God loves and cares about you. Much time, energy, and expense goes into the defense of everyone who calls upon the name of Jesus Christ. He spares absolutely nothing for his or her escape from the flames of hell.
An advocate also performs services, restoration, and renewal. With such intimate knowledge of his client, the advocate is in a unique position to counsel each willing heart to consider all the choices. An advocate can bring to bear the benefits from a multitude of case studies. Jesus knows everything there is to know about you. Nothing surprises Him, because nothing is beyond His level of experience. There are good lawyers in this world, but you cannot say that about them. An advocate is only able to work his wonders for those who truly believe in him.
Sadly, an advocate is unable to take the case of a person who is unwilling to ask for his intercession. If you are unwilling to call upon Jesus for His intercession, He will not plead your case before the Father. He loves you, and He cares about you, but He will not force Himself upon you. You have to ask Him to be your advocate, and He is anxious to be that for you.
An advocate can exert influence that is only available to him. No human on this earth can access the supernatural resources available to Jesus. Christ has never lost a single case, and few lawyers in this world can say that. However, with Jesus as the advocate, every individual who has ever come to Him with a load of guilt, sin, and condemnation has been cleared.
Christians are called to walk in the light. However, some people do not get the inner man strengthened as they ought, and they wander away from the light. They need to do what our text says and seek the advocate, Jesus Christ the advocate.
Have you failed God? Quitting is never the answer. No matter what you have done, you can repent and ask God to forgive you. Come to Jesus Christ your advocate.
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Transfomed
Dear Lord, take up the tangled strands, Where we have wrought in vain, That by the skill of Thy dear hands Some beauty may remain.
Touch Thou the sad, discordant keys Of ev’ry troubled breast, And change to peaceful harmonies The sighings of unrest.
Where broken vows in fragments lie— The toll of wasted years— Do Thou make whole again, we cry, And give a song for tears.
Take all the failures, each mistake, Of our poor, human ways, Then Savior, for Thine Own dear sake, Make them show forth Thy praise.
Transformed by grace divine, The glory shall be Thine; To Thy most holy will, O Lord, We now our all resign. Mrs. F. G. Burroughs |