You Have an Advocate – PART 1

You Thank you for listening. hey guys welcome back It's good to be with you tonight, and we're going to go ahead and start a three -part series on You Have an Advocate. There's a lot of confusion in the body of Christ right now and a lot of believers. thrives in confusion.

We need to know whose we are. We need to know who we are in him. And we need to know that we're not just, um, Too far gone. Amen.

So many people I talk to are under the impression they're too far gone. So let's go ahead and jump right into this. This will be a three -part series. Tonight we're starting number one.

Every believer who's serious about walking with God eventually runs into the same wall, honestly. You know the standard. you still fall short of it. Now, John doesn't write this passage to shame you for that.

And I'm talking about 1 John chapter 2 verses 1 through 6. in this conversation tonight. John's not writing this passage to shame you for that. In fact, he writes it to hand you the solution.

There's a lot of opinions from a lot of pastors and people and all the rest of this mess. I'm going to tell you something. You need to get it from the Word and you need to have it from the Holy Spirit. So take what I'm giving you.

dig it out pray and get his confirmation amen all right so by the end of this teaching you're going to understand exactly who is standing in the gap for you right now and why the case against you it's already settled huh Yes, it's already settled, guys. That's the reality, and I'm going to bring that to you tonight. So let's just break this down. John is writing to believers, not unbelievers.

men how do we know that my little children there in verse one he's writing to believers me you believers this in a sense it's it's pastoral it's not uh evangelistic in sense right it's for the believers it's for those who love the lord and who are wholeheartedly trying to serve the lord amen so keep that in mind here okay now his stated purpose was so that they will not sin so what would not sin that's why he brought this letter forth was that we would not sin he's not lowering the bar here what he's doing is he's showing them what happens when they miss it but also let's look at this john is being realistic about it he knows that despite that this purpose. Believers will at some point commit an act of sin. Grab that. Contrary to what everybody's saying today that you are just perfect all day all the time we are in a process say that with me process glory to god there's a lot of folks out there playing games right now i've traveled around I've been to Central America, seen a lot in Central America, been to South Africa, been to the Philippines, been to Australia, been to New Zealand, been to a lot of places, United Arab Emirates, been all over the place.

And I've seen a handful of authentic people who really love the sheep and a whole lot of people wearing a whole lot of masks, putting on a whole lot of performances. That's one reason I'm really about the home church, the fire churches. But you must be led by the Spirit. But that's another discussion for another day, family.

Let's get back to this. John is being realistic. John knows that despite this purpose, believers will at some point commit an act of sin. Should we aim to do that?

Obviously not. So in his grace, the Lord's grace, God made a twofold provision. Follow this with me now. A twofold provision to restore a sinning Christian.

And this is laid out in verses 1 and 2. First here, God has appointed Jesus Christ, Yeshua, as an advocate to please God. the case of sinners. Who appointed him?

God. Appointed who? His son Jesus. To do what?

Be an advocate to plead the case of sinners. Me. and you okay certain in fact to secure their pardon catch this jesus is certain to secure our pardon. Why?

Because he alone is righteous. Jesus alone is righteous. The second thing here is that God has provided Jesus as the propitiation for our sins that is the payment satisfying the debt the advocate pleading on. Again, Jesus is our advocate.

Amen. So he's our propitiation. He's the only righteous one. Keep that in mind.

Hallelujah. So guys, let's just frame this whole teaching as this two -fold provision. vision. One is Jesus looking at his role as our advocate.

The other is the work of Jesus. propitiation together the advocate and the propitiation okay together they answer the question every honest believer eventually asks what happens when I fail everybody fails I'm gonna be honest with you there's a whole lot of folks playing games out there putting masks on hiding behind the stage i've been behind the scenes i've seen it all there is no perfect person none of us amen jesus is the per one. So that question, what happens when I fell? This is my first point tonight, the advocate.

again john doesn't say if anyone sins go hide no john in fact says if anyone sins here's who here's Who already is standing up for you. That's what John is saying here. You know, the legal picture, if you will, the Greek, let's look at the Greek. behind this the greek word behind advocate and that word is parakletos it's the same word jesus uses For the Holy Spirit, in John chapter 14, verse 16, it means one called alongside.

Grab that. Someone, someone summoned into the room specifically to stand with you, me. and to speak on our behalf when we fall short of the glory of god can you say thank you jesus you know we've Build the courtroom scene here. Satan is called the accuser of the brethren, right?

He's the accuser. In Revelation chapter 12 verse 10, he's the one bringing charges, family. He's the one who's constantly, day and night, bringing charges. Father, not a father, the Father, is the righteous judge.

And Jesus Christ, he's described here as… The righteous. Grab that. Jesus is described here as the righteous.

He's your defense counsel. In the courtroom, if you will. And he's standing between the accusation and the verdict. Jesus is standing between the accusation against you.

And the verdict, this is not a metaphor that jaundiced invented casually. No, it's the exact legal structure the rest of scripture uses for how heaven. This courtroom operates. Every time the accuser brings something up against you, me, us as believers, there's a fact behind this that we are blood -bought children of the king amen that's the fact blood bought So when the accuser brings something up against you, there's already an advocate answering it.

And his name is Jesus. Amen. It's already done. You know, we can, we can frame this in three.

How do I say this? We can frame this thing up in three things that Christ is to every one of us as believers. Amen? and what those three things that we can frame it up we'll just say frame it up build a bridge get across is this Perikletos remember the great Perikletos a helper, an advocate then the second Second is the Righteous One.

Listen now. The Righteous One, having suffered, He paid the ultimate price. We go through some suffering here, yes, but Jesus will never match the suffering that our Lord has gone through, ever. The just…

dying for the unjust. Grab that. Jesus never sinned. Ever.

He was perfect, and yet he died for us. The just dying for the unjust. Grab that. And then the third in the Greek is called helosmos.

It's the atoning sacrifice for sin. The atonement. For what? Sins.

If I said sin, it's sins. I mean it covers all sins. Now, the third point already reaches ahead into verse two. Which is exactly why this teaching treats the advocate and the propitiation as one.

provision that is told in two parts one provision told in two parts so why why does this matter matter practically some of you may be asking why does this matter practically because most believers the moment that they sin instinctively do one of two things they either go and hide from God or they immediately try to fix the legal problem themselves what is that shame self -punishment extra performance The list goes on. Amen. But we can't fix that. Christ is the one who went through death, burial, resurrection, ascension.

Sitting now at the right hand of the Father. And we could go deeper into this, and we won't tonight. We'll do another teaching another day, but I'll leave you with this just to ponder on as well. That we are seated in…

Christ Jesus in heavenly places. Yes, we're here now, but we're also seated in him. We're technically there, but we don't, many of us don't have realizations of that today. And that's half the problem.

We're more attuned to this earth than we are to him in heaven. That's a whole other teaching. I don't want to pull us off on that. So so many believers after they…

fell they try to fix it themselves they either run off and and and hide amen or they go on this long place of i'm gonna fix it you know i'm gonna go through self -punishment shame i'm to put extra performance on all of this and it's it's useless it's useless both of those response is, family, ignore the advocate who's already been appointed, Jesus Christ, amen, our Savior. It's ignored. what he's already been appointed what's already done do you see the problem there so let me just talk with you for a minute on the difference between conviction and condemnation this is very important now conviction and condemnation you see conviction says Come to your advocate. That's the Holy Spirit.

Amen. Conviction comes from the Holy Spirit. No man, no pastor up there with a big stick. None of that mess.

That's religious junk. If you're in one of those church settings, run. Get out of it. Go find a real church where the Holy Spirit's really moving.

Not being portrayed to move or any of this other mess. We'll talk about all that later. But conviction, that's the Holy Spirit, not a man putting that on you. That's the Holy Spirit saying, come to your advocate.

Holy Spirit's always going to lead you to Jesus. The Holy Spirit is always going to lead you to Jesus. Jesus said, if you've seen Him, you've seen the Father. Amen?

So, the Holy Spirit is saying, come. to your advocate. That's it. Sweet little conviction.

It's not comfortable, but it's saying come to Jesus. Condemnation, on the other hand, it says you don't have one. you don't have one what you don't have an advocate you don't have somebody to stand in the gap for you he's a liar he's incapable of telling truth do you see what i'm saying the bible says There is therefore now no condemnation for those who believe. Not those who are Christians.

Go do the research in the Bible. Christians aren't even listed. It's believers. So do you see the difference?

Condemnation, conviction. We follow condemnation, conviction rather. We follow conviction, not condemnation, because conviction is Holy Spirit leading us to Jesus, our advocate. Okay, so learning to tell the difference is what keeps up toward God instead of away from God.

failure. And I'm going to tell you, it can be very easy, especially if you're called into the prophetic or you're a prophet or a seer. It can be very easy to be pulled away because you feel so bad. about it.

But prophet, listen to me. The same grace, the same blood of Jesus covers you that covers everyone else. I need you to hear that tonight. All right.

Alright, illustrations here, guys. Let's illustrate this, okay? Let's illustrate this. Hallelujah.

We thank you, Lord. Imagine a defense attorney for just a minute. Imagine a defense attorney who doesn't wait to be hired after the situation. taken place after the sin has happened after the fact you see jesus was appointed before the case was ever filed that's what i'm saying jesus is not reacting to your sin he's already positioned for the occurrence that took place.

And it's hard for us to grab that. We don't want to hurt the Lord. We don't want to hurt our Lord. I don't want to hurt my Lord.

You don't want to hurt your Lord. our Lord but unfortunately sometimes it happens it's part of the process of us coming to know him and coming closer to him grab that say process it's part of the process Amen family you don't have to build your own case you don't have to talk yourself back into good standing the Lord you don't have to beg you have an advocate Jesus Christ and he's already speaking grab that he's already speaking all right so that's the first box on the table that's our first point the second point is this the propitiation this is coming back to first john chapter two verse i'm sorry yeah chapter two verse two first john chapter two verse two The propitiation. This is an advocate. how do i say this okay listen an advocate can only argue a case he's actually one does that make sense an advocate can only argue a case he's actually won.

Jesus has won. Death, burial, resurrection, ascension. He took back the keys. He shed the blood, his living blood today.

is more potent and powerful than anything in existence verse 2 is where John shows us why jesus never ever ever loses this one let's let's unpack this propitiation this is a word that most of you won't use in a daily conversation. So let's just slow it down here for a minute and unpack this. Propitiation means the thing that fully satisfies a debt or a claim of justice. It's not a cover -up, it's not a technicality, but it's a complete settlement.

You know, when we walk through the Old Testament, we can look under the law. we can look under the law and the mercy seat and the blood of sacrifice or what propitiated in the Old Testament under the law. In that time, in that case, under the law in the Old Testament, satisfied God's righteousness are we tracking together here it said it for it satisfied God's righteous, uh, requirement against sin. Now this, this thing echoes the imagery and, um, Romans chapter 3 verse 25 in Hebrews 9 You know, John is there and John is telling his readers that Jesus himself Now, New Testament fills that role permanently.

Permanently. He isn't offering… a sacrifice he was the final atonement do you get it he was the final sacrifice he is the sacrifice thank you lord jesus this family is why the advocate in in verse one has This is why the advocate in verse 1 has standing in the courtroom. Who's the advocate?

It's Jesus. He's not arguing a technicality. He's not asking for leniency. What's he doing?

He's presenting a debt. That has already been fully and completely and totally paid, P -A -I -D, in Jesus' name. There's nothing left for… The accuser to legally stand on.

Nada. Oh, Lord, we thank you, God. We praise you. We just acknowledge you, Holy Spirit.

Acknowledge your presence here right now. Acknowledge you. We're faithful. Faithful is the Lord, family.

Faithful is the Lord. So, the scope. The scope for the whole world. John John deliberately widens the lens past his immediate readers right there, okay?

He intentionally, intentionally widens that lens. In other words, it's not focused in, it's brought out, it's larger, the bigger picture, the larger space. you're saying richard what are you saying here's what i'm saying this isn't tribal it's not just your small group I told you a minute ago, I love the house churches. We're starting house church movements.

It's what God has put on my heart in this hour. But Jesus… Don wasn't just talking to his tribal group there. He's talking about everybody.

He widened the lens. So this isn't tribal. It's not exclusive to just the first. century church that he was addressing the truth is this the provision was made for the entire world the entire world.

Jesus made the provision for every believer in the entire world. Grab that. really grab that it's not just for the apostles or the Jewish believers only but for the Gentiles too the door was never closed to anyone outside the original audience is more important it's very important that you understand that find rest and peace in this word in Jesus Let's take an angle toward teaching, a teaching angle, I should say. This matters.

This matters, family, for how believers view people outside. the faith the payment has already been made available to everyone the only outstanding in question is whether a person receives it that shapes both evangelism and how We talk about those still far from God. Now, outside of the faith, the Lord draws them in, yes. But the door is not closed.

the price isn't unpaid they just have to receive the free gift amen and that's jesus salvation is a free gift from jesus A believer walking in the light doesn't intentionally practice sin. It doesn't intentionally sin, amen? But if one does fall into sin, and we all fall short of God's glory and grace, if one falls into sin, there is still hope. Now, confession leads to being cleansed again.

That's the blood of Jesus. That's what Jesus is. did for us. Repentance takes place.

The blood of Jesus cleanses. It's been paid for. Well, we have the advocate, amen? The propitiation.

That's the practical heartbeat, family. behind the entire advocate and propitiation provision we'll call it it was built for the moment of failure that's what it was built for not just for the theory of it but the actual moment of failure listen the case isn't pending it's not maybe It's finished. And it was finished for more people than you think. let's let's let me let's have a charge here i'm gonna i'm gonna give a charge here you're not going to walk this out perfectly today okay you're not that's not what verse one is asking of you but you You have an advocate right now pleading a case that's already been won.

Jesus already won. Jesus took the victory already. We have victory. so receive that right now to stop where you're at and just receive it lord i receive it amen put the other shame away put the I'm going to go out and do extra works and extra this and carry the shame.

No, in Jesus' name, lay it down on the altar and receive what Jesus. has done stop hiding stop building your own defense family the defense has been made. Hallelujah. Praise the living God.

So family, I want to prepare you guys for the next broadcast that's coming in this series. It'll be part two. On that, I'm really going to bring the point home about you knowing you have an advocate is only half of this. because next time we're asking the harder question that John asks right after this and it's how do you actually know the Lord Jesus.

And we're going to cover that in part two. Praise the Lord. So family, if this blessed you, I just encourage you to subscribe. amen go ahead and subscribe if you're watching here on the lionheart tv network we're glad you're here amen praise god if you're watching on youtube come on over to the lionheart tv network at lionheart tv .network.

Glory to God. You can also listen to our radio station anytime at lionheart .fm and you can download that app off of the Apple Store or the Google Play Store. Or by just typing LionheartFM. We'd love to see you there.

Guys, I love you so much. I know that a lot of you have been through a lot of things, but it's time to walk in victory. Amen? Jesus paid the price.

If there's folks that… continue to come and beat things into your head and try to beat you down, that's unhealthy. You so like i was saying if you've been through some stuff and everybody has first and foremost forgive i know it's hard but forgive them release them to god bless them and Don't think anything more about it. It's only pulling you down and empowering the enemy.

Second, walk forward in the freedom of the Lord. That's key. That is key. guys i'll see you on part two soon and visit us lionhearttv .network we love you so much also if you have not if you're not part of our community come on over to the higher place amen coming over to the higher place at the higher place dot place join us pastor brian will do he'll he'll counsel you he'll minister to you deliverance amen you have a community there to love you, not beat you.

Hallelujah. We love you guys. The Lord bless you and keep you. His face shine upon you and as peace be with you.

We'll see you next time. Bye-bye. Thank you for listening. You