Titles of Jesus Christ (#2)
Sermon by Pastor Sylvia Chan
Last time we studied the title Messiah in a series of messages on the titles of Jesus Christ. There are lots of titles for the Lord Jesus Christ in the Bible, today we are going to study another title: The Advocate.
NASB 1 John 2:1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; (1Jo 2:1 NASB)
Here Apostle John says that Jesus Christ is our advocate with the Father Yahweh God. First of all, what does this word “advocate” mean?
The meaning of advocate
The original Greek word for “advocate” is “παράκλητος” (paraklētos); its basic meaning is one who is called alongside to help, especially called to one’s aid. In a court of justice, it is a legal technical term for the legal assistant to the defendant. In its general sense, it is one who pleads the cause of another person.
This word in its wider sense can mean comforter, counselor. That is why the Holy Spirit is also called paraklētos.
NASB John 14:16-17 “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; 17 that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you. (Joh 14:16-17 NASB)
Here the Lord Jesus is talking about the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth. The original Greek word for “helper” in this passage is also parakletos, the same as the Greek word for “advocate”.
Why does the Lord Jesus act as an advocate to us?
In the passage 1 John 2:1, Apostle John says that the Lord Jesus is our advocate; it means he is our helper, our legal assistant in the court of justice.
But what is this court of justice? Why does the Lord Jesus act as our advocate? Because someone is accusing us before Yahweh God!
NASB Revelation 12:9-10 And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. 10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night.” (Rev 12:9-10 NASB)
Verse 10 says that the accuser accuses us before Yahweh God day and night! Who is this accuser? It is the great dragon, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan!
The serpent of old is the serpent in the Garden of Eden in ancient times; he is called the devil and Satan. He not only deceived Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, he also deceives the whole world! Yet he was thrown down to the earth!
Please take notice that it is a prophecy of what will happen in the future. These things haven’t happened yet. Right now the great dragon, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, is still in heaven; but he is very active, accusing the brethren before Yahweh God day and night!
Yahweh God is just, so if what Satan accuses us of is true, God has to take action to punish us, He will not overlook it. That is why we need an advocate – our Lord Jesus Christ to defend us. But on our part we have to cooperate with our advocate. If Satan has a real case against us, and God does nothing about it, that would be unjust.
We have to cooperate with our advocate
How do we cooperate with our advocate?
NASB 1 John 1:7 – 10 7 but if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.
The word “He” refers to Yahweh God. He is in the light; so if we walk in the light, we will have fellowship with Yahweh God; then the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.
There are two things here:
- We have to walk in the light
- We have to confess our sins
1. We have to walk in the light.
What does it mean to walk in the light?
NASB 1 John 2:9 – 10 9 The one who says he is in the light and yet hates his brother is in the darkness until now. 10 The one who loves his brother abides in the light and there is no cause for stumbling in him.
The one who loves his brother abides in the light. So to walk in the light is to love your brother. If you hate your brother, you are sinning and are living in the darkness; and when Satan accuses you before God, even the Lord Jesus cannot defend you.
2. We have to confess our sins
As 1 John 1:8 – 10 says, if we have sins but we don’t confess them, then the truth is not in us; we make God a liar and His word is not in us.
We have to do two things here. First we have to walk in the light which means to love our brethren; second, if we sin, we have to confess our sins. When Satan accuses us before God, our Lord Jesus the advocate can defend us by saying, “My blood has washed him clean from all sins.”
But if we don’t love our brethren, we are not walking in the light; or if we don’t confess our sins, then our sins have not been cleansed. When Satan accuses us before God, even our advocate Jesus Christ cannot defend us, because Satan has got the facts in his hand.
3. Some Christians get the wrong notion
Some Christians think that because the Lord Jesus is our advocate before God, no one can touch us. That is simply not true. The Lord can defend us only if we walk in the light and we confess our sins.
Conclusion
Now let’s sum up everything. The psalmist says in Psalm 8:4, “What is man that you are so concerned for him?” Yahweh God let His Son suffer and die for us; He gives us the Holy Spirit to teach us and to empower us. When we fail, His Son our advocate pleads for us. We should not take for granted the love of God and of our Lord Jesus.
The Lord Jesus Christ is our advocate, he pleads our case before Yahweh God; he also comforts us and teaches us. Let’s learn to be an intercessor for those who sin and to be a comforter for those who are suffering.
Gospel and Salvation 