Our Helper -- Our Substitute
Robert Murray M’Cheyne once said, “If I could hear Christ praying for me in the next room, I would not fear a million of enemies. Yet the distance makes no difference; He is praying for me!”
Controversial IssuesWhat
greater help could anyone ask for, what greater privilege
could anyone desire, than to have Christ Jesus as helper and
friend? True Christians, who walk in the light of the
Lord’s gospel have just that. The apostle John wrote:
“My little children, these things I write to you, that you
may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with
the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is
the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but
also for the whole world. Now by this we know that we know
Him, if we keep His commandments” (1 John 2:1-2).
The apostle John
wrote to Christians to urge them to avoid sin. Sin is the
most destructive plague ever to set upon mortals. It is one
plague that has never yet been defeated. It continues to
wreck the lives of men and women, boys and girls, throughout
every generation of time. Long ago, the wise man Solomon
wrote, “Surely there is not a righteous man upon earth,
that doeth good, and sinneth not” (Eccl. 7:20). Paul
wrote, “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not
one” (Rom. 3:10) and concluded, “All have sinned and
come short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). This
universal fact has been true since the expulsion of Adam and
Eve from Eden. The important thing is that it applies to you
and me now. No one is exempted from the infection and
corruption of sin. No more serious danger exists than the
damning results of sin in personal lives. Sin is a terrible
thing.
John’s statement,
“... these things I write to you, that you may not sin”
reveals several things to us. We are all solemnly reminded
of our liability toward sin. With all of our power we ought
to fight the tempter. Peter wrote, “Be sober, be vigilant;
because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring
lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in
the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced
by your brotherhood in the world” (1 Pet. 5:8-9). In our
previous lessons we learned that John told taught readers
how to come into fellowship with God and how to be sure they
maintained spiritual cleansing through Christ’s blood. He
told them to confess their sins. If anyone in fellowship
with God sins and ignores it, fellowship is broken and
cleansing from sin is never realized. One cannot stay in
contact with the cleansing power of the blood of Christ and
deny sin. John said, “If we say that we have not sinned,
we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us” (1 John
1:10). Anyone who makes God out to be a liar is in sin.
The purpose of all
divine revelation is to help mankind. The greatest obstacle
for man to master is posed by sin. Without divine guidance,
it is utterly impossible. Recall the unforgettable words of
the ancient prophet, Jeremiah. “O Lord, I know the way of
man is not in himself; it is not in man who walks to direct
his own steps. O Lord, correct me, but with justice’ not
in Your anger, lest You bring me to nothing” (Jeremiah
10:23-24). There is no way out of sin other than through the
proper reception and application of divine revelation. John
wrote to Christians in his day, and to all Christians of all
ages, “that you may not sin.”
One tragic error
often repeated is to relegate the written word to a place of
irrelevance. This is done so frequently by those who either
have no interest in reading the precious words of the
Almighty, or simply are unconcerned about the great book.
Those who want it read at their funeral often know little of
what it really contains. But those who do devote the time
and effort to reading this matchless message from heaven,
have the greatest advantage in avoiding sin. They have the
written message, the deterrent to sin.
Reading the Bible,
hearing it taught, discussing it with others and being well
acquainted with what it says, is not enough. There must be
more. Those who would shun sin and please God must apply
what it reveals. An unknown poet, led by the inspiration of
God wrote, “With my whole heart I have sought you, Oh, let
me not wander from your commandments! Thy word have I laid
up in my heart that I might not sin against thee” (Psalm
119:10-11). Notice the exact phraseology, “might not sin
...”
The one who hides
the word in the heart has it ready for application when
temptation to sin appears. Paul wrote to the weak
Corinthians, “There hath no temptation taken you but such
as man can bear: but God is faithful, who will not suffer
you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the
temptation make also the way of escape, that ye may be able
to endure it” (1 Cor. 10:13). The word of God offers a way
of escape from the strongest temptations the Devil offers.
The one with God’s word in his heart is the one whose
whole heart is devoted to seeking the favor and blessing
from the Almighty. His expressed fervent craving is to
remain in the straight and narrow path that leads to life
everlasting, never to “wander from the commandments” of
God.
The great writer
and orator, Alexander MacLaren said, “Evil cannot flow
from a heart in which God’s law is lodged. That is the
tree which sweetens the waters of the fountain. But the cry,
‘Teach me Thy statutes’ would be but faltering, if the
singer could not rise above himself, and take heart by
gazing upon God, whose own great character is the guarantee
that He will not leave a seeking soul in ignorance.” (The Psalms, Volume III, Klock and Klock, pages
248-249). It is manifestly true that both good and evil
cannot issue forth from the same source simultaneously.
Where the word is honored in the heart there is no desire to
sin. Where sin is the ruling principle in the heart, there
is no influence from the word from God. The two cannot
peacefully coexist. They are mutually exclusive of each
other.
There is however,
always the liability to sin. Because we have a weakness of
flesh we will sin. Jesus said, “Watch and pray that ye
enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but
the flesh is weak” (Matt. 26:41). Recognizing that all
will sin, John adds, “And if anyone sins, we have an
Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” An
advocate is a helper, a confidant, a true friend. We might
think of the term advocate in a legal sense, as one retains
the services of an attorney-at-law to help in legal matters.
There is a sense in which that idea is in the word, but
there is much more. Jesus is more than just an attorney for
us. The word suggests a person who “stands along side in
order to comfort and aid.” (W.E. Vine, Expository Dictionary of
New Testament Words, page 111).
Notice the wider
meaning. It is used of one who can not only provide help for
one who is helpless, but who also understands, empathizes,
and feels for the helpless. This kind of advocate is able to
identify with one who needs help. Listen to the Hebrew
writer’s description of our Lord. “Therefore, in all
things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be
a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to
God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For in
that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to
aid those who are tempted” (Heb. 2:17-18).
There is nothing a
human experiences, good or bad, that Jesus Christ is
ignorant about. He knows our weaknesses and he is constant
in His advocacy. “For we do not have a High Priest who
cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points
tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Heb. 4:15). Whatever
one experiences in this life, Jesus knows what it is like.
In that, Christians ought to find great comfort. He is a
helper the likes of which no one has ever been able to
duplicate. He is a friend that sticks closer than a brother
(Prov. 18:24).
There is a bit of
sadness to all this, however. Not all of us will benefit
from the great help Christ provides. Some, in fact, the
majority, will completely reject Him. The strength and help
the Lord offers is, to the greater number of people, of no
benefit at all for the moment. There may come a time when,
through desperation and hopelessness, some will turn to Him
for his help. It may or may not be too late. None of us
knows the future. None of us knows how much mercy and
longsuffering Jesus will extend. The only course of real
wisdom is to realize the help we need.
To summarize
briefly: (1) A confession of our sins is the way to maintain
fellowship with God, and enjoy cleansing by the blood of
Christ. (2) Sin is warded off through storing up divine
truths in our hearts and using them when temptation comes.
(3) And finally, we can lean on Christ, rely on His advocacy
and help when things are otherwise impossible. But all of
this is a promise only to His people. Those who are no part
of his church, his body, his cause, are outside the
perimeter of salvation and must enter in before He stands by
their side. Jesus asks you to make the first move -- come to
him in simple trusting faith and obey him unreservedly. He
remains with all on the condition of their continued faith
and obedience to his word.
Obedience issues
from the spring board of faith. Repentance is an about face
in life, a rejection of sin. And obedience that brings
salvation confesses faith in Christ and culminates in water
baptism, into the sacred name of the Divine Three, the
Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, for the forgiveness of
sins. Please carefully weigh this today.
If you have a
question about this, or anything else you hear on this
broadcast, contact us at valleychurch@vscoc.org