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3:21Well, the healing of the nations is necessary because of what we have done to each other. That's the problem. Healing is necessary because of what people do to people. What sin does. The real pandemic we face is sin. It is sin that has laid the nations low. It is sin that destroys households, destroys relationships, and wounds deeply. We began looking at sin for Christmas and looking at Christ, the one who saves us from our sins. And we took a deep study into sin. What is sin? Sin is that, you can think of it as that overarching term that describes all those instances where man has fallen short, where People fall short of God's standard. That is what sin is. It's described as fraud, fraud, deception. That is sin, violence, sin, crossing boundaries, moving boundaries that God has established sin. Sin is distorting something beautiful, twisting truth.

5:04Sin is asserting self as the one ultimately to be pleased. And it is ultimately rebelling against God's authority. And that is what has harmed. That is what has pained humanity. That is what we have done to others. That is what we have had others do to us. And we understand the pain of seeing sin. And sometimes, as I look to the future, sometimes as I'm in counseling situations, sometimes as I look at our nation, sometimes as I look at what people can do to people, I see wounds that are so deep that I wonder and I ask myself, how in the world can these ever be healed?

5:59Perhaps you're Asking yourself some of those same questions. Sin hurts. It hurts deeply. Individuals against individuals, groups against groups, nations against nations. So, what is the answer? Oh, Jesus is God's answer to sin. And He is the one who heals the nations. Look, sin is a reality. Jesus Himself said in John 7:7, He said, The world hates me because I testify of it that its deeds are evil. And why they crucified Jesus is because He testified that its deeds are evil, that its religion was false. And He took on the leadership of His generation with the truth. And they hated Him for it, the truth about their sin. And they hated Him for it. Sin is a reality.

7:04But we also know that Jesus is God's remedy for sin. Jesus also said in John 14:6, Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but through me. The way to a right relationship with your heavenly Father is through Jesus and through no one else. Sin is a reality in your life, and the only remedy for that is. Through Jesus Christ. And so, in our passage this morning, we have began working through this section where John shows us how God wants His people to deal with sin.

7:49He wants us to know how to be forgiven. He wants us to know how to be in the fellowship of light. And that question asked again to you this morning as we begin 20:21: Are you in the fellowship of light? The fellowship of light. Look back at verse 3 of chapter 1. What we have seen and what we have heard, we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us. And indeed, our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ. A fellowship, a fellowship of all generations of believers, a fellowship within the Godhead Himself, Father-Son, an intimate fellowship that transcends earth and heaven and eternity. Are you in that fellowship? Well, John has given us three tests, three truths, and really three tests so that we can know for sure whether or not you are in the fellowship of light. The Bible doesn't want you to be ignorant on this.

9:00Doesn't want there to be any doubt in your mind. Excuse me. It's not COVID. My throat's dry. I've been singing too much, I guess. I need to learn to not sing as much during the services, because by the time I've preached a sermon, sung a couple rounds, my voice starts going. But three tests. We've been working through them. First test, or is really the first truth we've been looking at is that sin breaks fellowship with God. Sin breaks fellowship with God. And the liar is the one, in verse 6, if we say that we have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.

9:53I'm sorry, would somebody mind getting me a glass of water? Thank you. Just good. Or thank you. I don't know, whoever. So fast. Now that's answered prayer, right? Knows what we have. But sin breaks fellowship with God. And John's main axiom here in verse 5 is that this is the message we have heard from him and announced to you that God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all. And therefore, since this Is the case about God. There is no darkness in him at all. Those who walk in darkness and say they are in fellowship with God are liars. But the remedy is given in verse 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.

10:54Second truth and test is that sin is part of our inborn disposition. Verse 8, if we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. So we've met the liar. John has exposed us to the self-deceiver, and in both cases, he's given the remedy for sin. That brings us to our text today. We're looking at the slanderer, the slanderer. The slanderer is the one who says that he has not sinned.

11:42Let's meet the slanderer. Look at verse 10. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. So here's the one who slanders God. And where we'll pick up this morning and continue to look at how God Describes the slanderer and the remedy for it, the glorious remedy. But the slanderer does not agree with God's declaration about sin. God's word says much about sin, and the slanderer, the liar, the one that says he has not sinned, doesn't agree with what God says about sin. And such a person slanders God or effectively calls God a liar on three levels. First of all, one who doesn't agree with God's declarations about sin makes God a liar about what sin is.

12:52We can lie and say, well, God calls something sin, but we don't really think it's sin, or I don't really think it's sin. If I have no sin, then I'm obviously saying that what God calls sin is not sin. And listen, everybody needs to measure sin by God's standards, or else they make him out to be a liar. I don't really make him out to be a liar. He can't make him be a liar because he's not a liar, but you assert that he is a liar and his truth is not in you.

13:25And woe to those, as Isaiah 5:20 says, woe to those who. Who calls evil good and good evil. But second, those who do not agree with God's declaration about sin say that he is lying about the universality of sin. If you say you have no sin, then you're obviously say that God lies about the universality of sin. Ecclesiastes 7:20 says, Indeed, there is not a righteous man on earth who continually does good and who never sins. Scripture is clear on this. Psalm 14:3, they have all turned aside, together have all become corrupt. There is no one who does good, not even one. So the liar, or the one who makes God out to be the liar, is saying, you know, I don't have sin or I haven't sinned. Such an individual calls God's word a lie.

14:32But the third, and perhaps one of the most deepest, slanderous accusations against God that the person who says he doesn't have sin does is makes God a liar about his character. Because throughout Scripture, God has revealed himself as the God who does what? Forgives what? Sin. And so, if you tell yourself, or if you are in the habit of telling yourself, oh, I really don't sin, you make him a liar. And you call into question his character because he is the God who has revealed himself as the one who forgives sin.

15:21Exodus 34:6, the Lord God is compassionate, gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in loving kindness and truth, who keeps loving kindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression, and sin. Isaiah 43, 25, I, even I, am the one who wipes out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins. Now, think about it. If you've gotten in the habit of telling yourself that you do not sin, think about the slanderous accusations you're bringing before God.

16:03If people do not sin, guess what? There is no need to have sin forgiven. And that is who God has revealed himself to be: the God who forgives sin. So God's self-revelation of himself is a lie. And you think about that. What kind of a God wants you to feel indebted to him? If he says, yeah, sin really isn't sin, I forgive you of sin, that really isn't there, because I want you to think of me as somebody who forgives you for sin. What is that saying about him?

16:46He wants us indebted to him. But you see, I think we, and certainly in John's time, there were those who went there. We have not sinned. And certainly, or maybe some of their pre-Gnostic ideologies had taken them to the point where they believed that they had such knowledge that they no longer sinned anymore. And that you can enter into a state where there's no sin, or maybe even denying sin. And I think, in an overall sense, we might be quick to say, yeah, we're sinners. Yeah, we know, number one, we know, number one, that God fellowships with those who are in the light, the truth, and so he's not going to fellowship with practicing sinners. He's not going to bless that. That's not God. And then we might even deceive ourselves, but we might even agree and say, you know what? I do know I sin.

17:47But it's this third one. When we get down to the specific sins, do you really believe you're a sinner? And if you really do believe you're a sinner, it will show up in that you will constantly be owning your sin. You'll be confessing your sin. When you wrong somebody, you will make it right. When you sin against God, you'll be quick to agree about it. There'll be contrition in your heart. You will be in a pattern of making it right. Agreement.

18:20I think many of us get to that point, and we're slow to admit specific sins. Listen, it is a virtue to admit when you're wrong. That's what John is saying. It's a virtue. And listen, one of the things this world needs most are godly examples of those individuals who will not deny their sins or deceive themselves or slander God by not going around owning up to their sin, but those who will really take responsibility for sins. If there's one thing each family needs, it's a father and a mother, especially father. Let me just speak to the dads. We need men who will be the first to own their sin, to confess their sin. Let your children see that dad is in progress, that dad takes the lead in showing this is what you do when you do what's wrong, or when you say what's wrong, or when you snap out, or lash out, or you say something. Let them hear the contrition.

19:30Let them hear. And likewise, mothers, brothers, sisters, you want to be a good example. Just lead the way in owning your sin, admitting when you're wrong, and making it right. That is a virtue. That is what children who walk in the light do. Those who are in the habit of not owning up to their specific sins have the wrong attitude towards sin. We need to straighten that out. Let us have the right attitude toward sin. It's not to deny it, not to say we're not sinners, or that we haven't sinned. What is the right attitude? Well, look back. John goes on to tell us, My little children, verse 1, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. So the right attitude to sin is, number one, to purpose in your heart not to sin. The right attitude, purpose not to sin.

20:39John's purpose for saying these things, and what are these things he's referring to? Number one, sin breaks fellowship with God, verses 6 through 7, but sin is its remedy. Sin is part of our inborn disposition, verses 8 and 9, but sin is the remedy. And number 10, we have all practiced sin. He's writing these things. He wants us to know these things, but there is a remedy. There is a remedy. And he wants us to understand that remedy. That remedy, sin, is confession sin, owning sin. Jesus Christ, who forgives sin, blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin, verse 7. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. He's giving the sinner the basis to understand how we deal with sin.

21:34But then he begins to walk a tightrope right here. Two extremes we can fall into. The first might be saying, well, if that's the case, I can go ahead and sin. Right? If there's forgiveness, sin must not be that big of a deal. Let's just go on. And what John is saying is, no, my little children, listen, I'm telling you all these things so that you may not sin. I want you to understand these things about sin so that you will not sin, so that you'll be growing by confessing sin, by owning up, you're moving in a direction away from sin so that you will grow and mature in righteousness. That's why I'm writing these things to you. So the first extreme that John wants to avoid is this tendency to treat sin lightly.

22:29Jeff. Just preached on it last week, Romans 6:1. What shall we say then? In light of all of God's grace, are we to continue in sin so that grace may abound? May it never be. That was Paul's answer, and that's John's answer. No, the sin that there's a forgiver, and forgiveness is not so that you can go in sin. In fact, those who teach that, he's already said, are liars. There is no fellowship with those who are habitually growing and practicing their sin, who are maturing in their sin. There's no fellowship there. There is fellowship with those who are confessing their sins, agreeing with God, even though they still sin.

23:19They agree with God. They deal with sin on the basis that God has provided, and they're able to go forward in fellowship with God. Everyone needs cleansing. But there's a second extreme that John is dealing with in this book. The second extreme is to be so harsh on sins, so harsh on your own sin or the sins of others that you refuse to accept or extend God's forgiveness. So, on the one hand, is to treat sin too lightly. The other is to be so harsh and to have an understanding. Of God's thinking wrongly about God towards sin, that his view of sin is so harsh and burdensome that it crushes you and crushes others. No, there is forgiveness. John wants his readers to understand that there is forgiveness. He wants his readers to understand how to habitually remove the sin out of your life. And that is by not by denying sin or denying that you're a sinner or running ahead in sin regardless. Listen, very dangerous for an individual to know what sin is, to continue in sin, and think they have fellowship with God. That's a liar. John is very clear on that.

24:51And if that's you, you need to repent. You need to own that. But John wants his readers to know what to do when they sin. They are to confess their sin. So the right attitude, number one, is to purpose not to sin. But there's a second part of the right attitude, and that is to marvel at God's provision for sinners. To marvel. Look back at verse 1. My little children, I am writing these things. To you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, so John is acknowledging, look, there's going to be sin in the life of the believer. There are some who like to make the case that John is speaking about sinless perfection in this book. He's not. And right here is very clear. And if anyone sins, we, notice how he's including himself in that. 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 for those of the whole world. And it's in these verses that John gives us three of the most beautiful pictures of Christ.

26:14Three of the most beautiful pictures of the one who saves his people from their sins. And I can think of no better way to start 2021 than a long, hard look at the Christ of Scripture. Three beautiful pictures. I want you to see this morning that John describes three beautiful pictures of Jesus, and it will set your 2021 on the right path. Let's look at them. The first, Jesus is an advocate with the Father, our advocate with the Father. The Father. John says, and if anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father. Circle that. An advocate with the Father. Word advocate is Latin, advocus, advocatus.

27:14Greek, it's the word paracletas. But it's literally the one who's called alongside to help another. Someone who is summoned to the side of another to help. I remember early in my married life, I can't remember exactly which anniversary it was, but it was one of the few. And I could probably hear my wife right now on the or she's zooming in, probably knows. But it was one of the early ones. And May 29th is our anniversary, wedding date. So we decided to go out, and we always wanted to have a three-day weekend around, so it was close to Memorial Day, all that. So took her out in the new vehicle I bought. Of course, it was an old clunker that I got a really good deal on. And we went out, and this is in Texas, and it was hot. It was over 100 degrees, and guess what? The new vehicle just broke down. And we were out there on some Texas highway, and it was hot. It was really hot.

28:28And so, To call a tow service, and the tow service showed up and came alongside, pulled us out of the ditch, pulled us to safety. Of course, he didn't have air conditioning either, and the front of his pickup smelled really bad, and he smelled like the swamp thing really bad. And that was the way we spent that anniversary. But he was the parakletos that was summoned to help us. You get the picture to help us. And you remember in John 14:6, Jesus said, I will ask the Father, and he will give you another helper that he may be with you forever.

29:16So you think about what Jesus sent the Holy Spirit, he knew that in Christ's absence, his people need a helper. They need someone to come alongside. We need somebody who will bring to mind the things that he said, who will convict, who will guide, who will illumine our hearts so we can understand the word, so we can understand God's way. We're stuck in the ditch without that. So we have the Holy Spirit. But notice the Holy Spirit is another Paracletos, is another helper, another advocate. So that means. The first is who? Jesus, right? We have two advocates: Holy Spirit on earth, Jesus in heaven.

30:12But this word, to give you a sense of this word, it's not just coming alongside in a ditch. There is something else, nuance of this word. Usually, it's used in the context of a legal helper, someone to plead the case of another in a legal setting. Yesterday, I was asked by one of my daughters, Dad, what was one of the things that you most regretted that you did when you were a child? Like, what kind of table topic is that?

30:55Whose idea was this anyway? I said, Come back tomorrow. If I can tell you, I'll tell the whole church. And I'm embarrassed about this. But it catches the sense in which this term is most often used and being used here. And guess what? You need to live your life in such a way that you're going to tell your kids. Because one day you're going to get the question asked, Dad, what did you do? Get ready. Or mom, what did you do? Get ready. So live your life in such a way that you're going to be answering these questions. But I say this because not to celebrate, but to, I'm embarrassed of this, but it expresses the thought that's going on in this verse.

31:58Well, in eighth grade, when I was going to my little junior high school up there in my hometown, three grades, seventh, eighth, and ninth, all met together. My friends and I decided one day we didn't want to go to school anymore. Or at least we wanted a little break. And so one of us, and I don't remember who, had the great idea: let's call in a bomb threat. Let's call in a bomb threat. So my friend dials up the number to the school, listens for a little while, and what I didn't know he was doing, and he was supposed to tell them there was a bomb, he was listening to the answering machine saying, please leave your message after the tone. So then after the tone, he gives it to me here.

32:46I said, okay. And I took it. And I said, okay, there's a bomb inside the building, and it's set to go off between 8:30 and 12. So I figured that would at least get us out for the morning. Hung up the phone. Went on, and I didn't think anything of it. We got down to the school, and guess what? They had evacuated the whole junior high. Three grades, seventh, eighth, and ninth, hundreds of people. They canceled school for the day, they had to send people home. And then we had to make up the day on a Saturday. So, all parents, can you imagine how mad you would be at one kid if he made you have to come back to school on a Saturday and have all and had to all that kind of stuff? Well, that's what I did. That's what we did. And let me tell you something: the penalty for domestic terrorism is not a light one, even back then, especially now.

33:52But so that's, and then of course, we go around bragging, so we get caught. You know, yeah, let me tell you why we're all out here. We did this, you know. And so then we get caught, and there, and then all of a sudden, the weight of what we did starts setting in. Domestic terrorism, right? Threatening to blow up a building. We're kids, we don't fully understand what we did. We just wanted a half-day off school, and we got the full day off, you know, and then so you know what happened.

34:31Is I was in trouble and I didn't know the half of it. I didn't know the law. I didn't know the judge. I didn't know any of that. So an individual named Mrs. Rojas was appointed to help me. She was appointed as my advocate. She was, and she was somebody, I needed a representative. I needed somebody that knew the law's demand and knew how much trouble I was in because I had no idea how much trouble I was in. But I needed somebody who knew that, who knew the law's demands, who knew the judge, and who would take time to get to know me. And that's what she did. I'd go in week after week, and I really enjoyed that time. She got to know me, and she liked to hear me talk, and she then came away convinced that I'm not really a domestic terrorist. I'm a kid who listened to his friends and did what was wrong.

35:44So when I answered, what is it that I did that I regretted the most? was listening to the words of my friends rather than the words of God. Wanting to please my friends, wanting to please man. Please myself instead of pleasing God. That's the root that I regret. That is effectively what sin is. But you know what Mrs. Rojas did? She advocated. I didn't even, I never even meet the judge. But she went before him on my behalf. And she said, I'm going to take care of this. This is going to be taken care of. And you know what? It's not even going to show up on your record. I'm going to make sure that this is erased. And I'm going to make sure that your penalty is as light as possible. And that's exactly what she did.

36:50She was summoned as my helper in a legal situation where the law was bearing down on me. You see, as sinners, we don't know the half of it. We don't know the trouble we're in. We don't know the damage it causes. We don't know. And God knew that we needed someone to be our advocate before his throne. Someone who knew the law's demands. Somebody who knew the judge. And somebody who knew us from the inside out. That's why he sent Christ to take upon himself. himself flesh so that he could experience humanity from the inside so that he could be the perfect judge and the perfect advocate.

37:43And so God appointed Jesus to plead his people's cause before the Father. What a beautiful picture. As you face 2021, you have two advocates. You had the Holy Spirit on earth, and you have Jesus in heaven. It is his advocating ministry that we give little thought to, but is the natural outcome of the cross. That's what the cross is about, is so that humanity has entered into the presence of God to advocate on our behalf. Jesus, advocate with the Father. There's a second beautiful picture here. Jesus Christ the righteous.

38:43And if anyone sins, verse 1, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. The fact that he's the advocate with the Father says what he does. The fact that he is Jesus Christ the righteous says who he is. Is. Who is he? Let's take these words. Jesus Christ, the righteous. Jesus speaks of his humanity, a specific individual. He took upon flesh, and that flesh has entered into the very presence of our Heavenly Father, Jesus, specific person. Jesus, Christ. Christ, New Testament word for Messiah. God's anointed ruler for all humanity. This is the ruler. This is the one by God's grace that all the nations, every individual, will bow and say, Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of his Father. Jesus, the Messiah. Jesus, the highest individual. God's anointed. He is your advocate. There isn't anyone higher. There isn't anyone that has the ear of God more. There isn't anyone to whom all authority has been given. Jesus the Christ.

40:09But then look at this last one. The righteous. The righteous. This speaks of his character. You see, we need somebody to constantly be arguing for God's favor on our lives. And we need that person to do it on a righteous basis. In other words, we don't need a scoundrel up there trying to make our case, right? Let me tell you what a sinner advocating on our behalf would sound like. Well, you know, sin really isn't sin. Well, you know what? There was extenuating circumstances. That's why this person sinned, right? That's where we are. This person was a victim, right? And they sinned. That's how that's not going to get anyone there. You know, we need a righteous, a righteous advocate. We need a righteous advocate that doesn't need to be advocated for himself, right? We need a holy, we need someone who is righteous. We need a righteous advocate who pleads our case on a righteous basis.

41:27What is that basis? Well, that's the third beautiful picture of Jesus. Number one, we have the advocate with the Father. Number two, Jesus Christ the righteous. And number three, we have the propitiation for our sins. Look at verse 2. And he himself is the propitiation for our sins. Not only for our sins, but also for those of the whole world. What is this word, propitiation? It's a beautiful picture. Some of your translations may say expiation. Some may say sin offering. What is propitiation? It is the means. Sin offering is a good one. It is the means of forgiveness. It is the way of reconciliation. It is that which is done, that which satisfies the law's demands and brings about and mends and heals the broken relationship that has occurred between God and man.

42:47Notice this: that not only is Jesus the appointed advocate, he is also the appointed sacrifice, the propitiation. He is the sacrifice for sins. He is both, if you're using pictures from the Old Testament, he is both the priest and the offering in one. That's the gift. We need a perfect priest. We need a perfect sacrifice. Jesus is one and the same. Notice the motive behind this. You see this throughout. What motivated him? Well, John 3:16, John has already said for It was because God loved the world that he sent his son. He says something similar in 3.16. We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. He says something similar in chapter 4, verse 9: By this, the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent his only begotten Son into the world that we might live through him. The motive is God's love.

44:01The object, what is being or who is being propitiated, God's wrath, laws, demands have to be met. And listen, you have to understand that neither Father or the Son were doing something they were unwilling to do or reluctant to do. It is God who started this whole process. He sent Jesus to be the propitiation because we needed something to appease his wrath. But he also, out of love, sent him. So the motive was love. In Leviticus 16:30, speaking on the day of atonement, these words communicate on this day that atonement shall be made for you to cleanse you, and you will be cleansed from all your sins before the Lord. This whole idea. Of atonement, cleansing, blood, innocent sacrifice, all that comes together in being the propitiation who effectively removes, who effectively provides the way, the means of forgiveness and reconciliation. It is that action, that deed, that payment that brings it about.

45:24And notice the power of it. Propitiation for our sins and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world. So what Jesus, look back, what Jesus is to us, propitiation for our sins, he is also for the whole world. Now, what does John mean by this? There have been a lot of erroneous interpretations of this. Well, he's not saying universally that everyone's going to be saved. That's very clear. He speaks about John speaks about men who are under God's wrath. They're under condemnation. Those who do not believe remain under that condemnation. He's pointing out the errors of the heretics who say they're in fellowship with God even though they sin, who've deceived themselves, who slander God, say there's no sin. No, those people are clearly out, not among them. So what is he saying? Well, and certainly, I believe there are those that say, well, he's talking about the sufficiency for the whole world. Well, yes, certainly Christ's sacrifice is sufficient for the whole world. But I think he's saying something even more precise.

46:50He is saying, and he himself, Jesus is himself, the sin offering for our sins, and not only for ours, but the whole world. There is no other effective sacrifice given to humanity than Christ's blood. There isn't another one. What he is to us, he is to the whole world. And the question is: have you believed him? Have you accepted him? The indication that you've accepted him is that you feel the same way about your sin as he does.

47:34He is the only effective sacrifice of the world. He is the only means. All other religions, categorically false. There is only one Christ of Scripture. There is only one means. There is only one sin offering that is effective to transfer you from the condition of unmitigated wrath to unmitigated favor. What is heaven? Unmitigated favor of God. What is hell? Unmitigated wrath of God. Where are you today? But notice. Notice that Jesus doesn't plead our innocence. He doesn't stand before the Father and say, you know, they're innocent. No. He acknowledges the sin. He understands the law's demands, and he can say, Their debt is paid in full.

48:32This sin offering that I am bringing compensates, covers, expiates. It is sufficient to turn away divine wrath. And so Jesus the righteous comes before on our behalf and saying, Here is the sufficient sacrifice. He knows the judge, he knows the law's demands, he knows all that, and he does it righteously. And the benefit that we have as we face 2021 is we have the advocacy of Jesus. What is his advocacy? Think of this picture: advocating his sacrifice, continually advocating his sacrifice on our behalf. What is that?

49:32The answer, I think, is that it is the continual application of his death to our salvation. I think that's what that is. The intercession of Christ is the continual application of his death to our salvation. He eternally does this. Listen, Jesus is qualified to be our advocate. He is righteous. His intercession for us is not upon some bogus foundation. It's upon a solid, righteous foundation. And we need this. We are eternal beings. And so we need somebody to advocate, to keep us in that favored status. You know, when you take upon the task of having children, guess what mother and father do? They purpose to stay engaged. There's a bunch, you know, for the child's sake, right? When you commit to having children, you commit several obligations. Well, when Jesus took upon himself, when God took upon himself making man in his own image, he took upon himself a holy responsibility. When he sent Jesus to be the Messiah, the anointed one for all of humanity, Jesus himself took upon the ongoing responsibility of seeing to it that we would remain in God's most favored satisfaction. As His children.

51:03And so, we, as eternal beings, there has to be some agent, some action, some merit that eternally attests, eternally argues, eternally gives us and bestows upon us and guarantees and pleads for our situation and grants and guarantees that eternal favored status. Who is that? That's Jesus. What is the basis upon his sacrifice? Done once and for all. He's not continually sacrificing himself, done once and for all, but the benefits of his sacrifice are continually and eternally being added to our salvation.

51:52It's a picture so amazing, so wonderful. And I'm just getting started, but I do have to wrap it up. So much to say here. But we can take away these truths. Number one, everyone needs to measure sin by God's standards. And number two, everyone needs the cleansing that God offers in Jesus. And that's what John is setting before us. Before we leave today, I do want to set Before you an image of a people who cannot be defeated, of an invincible people.

52:43Revelation 12. There's a situation in heaven, war in heaven, Michael and his angels waging war with the dragon. And who is the dragon? The dragon is called Satan, the serpent of old, who deceives the whole world. He was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. And then in verse 10, we read these words. Then I heard a loud voice in heaven saying, Now the salvation and 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 God day and night. Verse 11, and they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death. Who is this invincible people? Well, we have an accuser who accuses us day and night, but now we have an advocate, an advocate who advocates on our behalf. And these people in verse 11 are described in three terms. They overcame him. Who did they overcome? Satan, the dragon, the serpent of old, the one who deceives the whole world.

54:01They overcame him. Who are these people? Well, they overcame them because of the blood of the Lamb. That eternally testifying they are righteous in God's eyes because of the blood of the Lamb, because of their word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives even when faced with death. An invincible people, invincible people, made righteous by the blood of the Lamb, who agree, who walk in the testimony of God's word, and who are not afraid to die.

54:40You can't beat those kind of people, you can't defeat them. Satan himself could not defeat them. No matter what happens, 2021, we have an advocate who pleads our case before our Heavenly Father. Remember in John 5, 13, 1 John 5, 13, he says, John says, These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life. You know, an invincible people know they have eternal life. They know it. And why do they ever ever ever ever eat? They know it. They know it because they have an advocate with the Father. His name is Jesus Christ the righteous, and He is the propitiation for our sins. And nothing changes that.

55:45Those are the people who will face whatever happens in 2021 and the years after with a holy resolve and a holy victory. They are the majestic ones and whom all of God's delight is in. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for this beautiful picture, these beautiful pictures of our Lord and Savior, our advocate who never grows tired, who knows us intimately, who loves us deeply and continually applies the merits of his righteous life and sacrifice to our eternal well-being. Too marvelous for us to even take in. Jesus Christ, righteous. We thank you that he is righteous. In all this world, we look around, we see crookedness, we see perversity, we see wrongness on so many levels, and we look into our own heart and we. We see it mirrored in our own souls, and we confess that to you. But we thank you that he is righteous, and in his righteousness he loves us and has made a way for us to be reconciled to you by the offering of himself, the sin offering of himself. There can be nothing higher, nothing more thorough, and nothing that can give us more assurance that we indeed are yours now and forever. So draw us into this fellowship more and more. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen.