1 John 2:1 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:

If we never commit a crime, we will never need a lawyer, an advocate. If we do commit a crime, we will need a lawyer. The idea, then, of SIN and ADVOCATE go hand in hand. We do not need one without the other.

1. SOME ASSUMPTIONS TO CONSIDER
   1. First, we must assume that there is sin if there is a lawyer involved.
      1. To the lost, the Bible says that A all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.@
      2. There is always a need for an advocate, because this does not say that A all have sinned and have come short of the glory of God,@ but it says that A all have sinned and DO come short of the glory of God.@
      3. As Christians, we must realize that we have sinned against God as believers, too.
      4. 1Jo 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 1Jo 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
   2. Second, we must assume that there is an Advocate.
      1. In any state of jurisprudence, an advocate is provided for both the defendant and the Plaintiff.
      2. As God= s children, we have been provided with our own advocate, an advocate for the defendant; that would be me and you.
      3. He is like a public defender. You see, they are FREE. There is no charge for his services except the payment he made himself on the cross when he paid for our sins.. This gives new meaning to A Jesus Paid It All,@ doesn= t it?
   1. Thirdly, we must assume that God is on his throne as a judge.
      1. John says here that A we have an advocate with the Father.
      2. The Father is on his throne and is the great Judge. There is no other place for our Lord to do his job as Advocate. It must be with the Father.
      3. Jesus would refused to stand before any other bar than this eternal and all-powerful bar of God.
   1. Fourthly, we must assume that God= s people are the defendants in this advocacy. The text says, A WE have an advocate with the Father.@
      1. This illustrates that we are still sinners; because, if Christ had paid for our sins in the sense that we no longer must be cautious of sin, then there would be no need of an Advocate before the Father.
      2. But we do sin, so then this passage is not for the lost but for God= s children. One day when we stand before God, we will need him as Advocate just as we need him now to keep that sweet communion with God after we sin.
   1. Fifthly, we must assume there is an accuser.
      1. The Bible says in Re 12:10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
      2. Every day Satan brings railing accusations against us, such as the fact that we are not a spiritual as we should be, we do not pray as we should, we are negligent in the service of God, we are backslidden, we are angry with our brother, we have not given our tithe. He gathers these up and brings them to God in accusation against us, God= s children.
      3. Then, of course, we have an Advocate, Jesus Christ the righteous one.
   1. Sixth, we must assume that we cannot stand before God ourselves and plead our own case.
      1. Job 9:32 For [he is] not a man, as I [am, that] I should answer him, [and] we should come together in judgment. 33 Neither is there any daysman betwixt us, [that] might lay his hand upon us both.
      2. Job 16:21 O that one might plead for a man with God, as a man [pleadeth] for his neighbour!
   1. Seventh, we must assume from our text that Christians have a tendency to forget that they have an Advocate.
      1. If we sin [let us remember that] we have an advocate with the Father.
      2. John, then, is reminding us of this. We must often be put into remembrance of these many things, and this is one of them.
      3. Our conscience readily reminds us of the horror of our sins against a holy God; our guilt does the same; the devil also reminds us of our sin; so we are not at a loss to remember our sin. But we must be reminded that A we have an advocate with the Father.@
      4. We are very slow to remember that. We must read this text often and be reminded by the Holy Spirit in order for us to keep from getting too downtrodden or too ashamed of our sins. We do have an advocate with the Father.
      5. Remember that Jesus will not allow our souls to be spoiled before the throne of God as will be so with the wicked. Remember that he will be there with us advocating with the Father, and we will all enter into the joys of his kingdom.

1. THIS ADVOCACY IS AN ENCOURAGEMENT TO OUR SOULS
   1. It Encourages Us In Our Security
      1. We all have a High Priest in Jesus Christ. He did his priestly duty on the cross, and he delivered his blood before the Father in complete satisfaction for the payment of our sins.
      2. He also makes intercession for us now as we live on this earth. This encourages us to continue serving him now.
      3. But being an advocate is not exactly the same as being a high priest. As our Advocate, we expect to stand before the judgment of God one day, and we expect our free lawyer to be there with us pleading our case before the Almighty Judge of all.
      4. This he will do, encouraging us in our security. We have retained this lawyer. He has made the appointment for the day of judgment to be in court, and he is faithful; so he will be there. This is our security.
      5. We are not afraid to appear in that court. We have the assurance of our Lawyer.

1. OUR ADVOCATE IS QUALIFIED
   1. We have but one Advocate; that is Jesus Christ the righteous.
   2. La 3:58 O Lord, thou hast pleaded the causes of my soul; thou hast redeemed my life.
   3. Isa 51:22 Thus saith thy Lord the LORD, and thy God [that] pleadeth the cause of his people, Behold, I have taken out of thine hand the cup of trembling, [even] the dregs of the cup of my fury; thou shalt no more drink it again:
   4. He is Jesus Christ the Righteous.