The Truth of LIFE | 1 John 2:1-2

Bible readings. If you have your Bibles with

you, please open them up at John chapter 3 and

John 3 · chapter mention

we're just looking at verse 16 to 18. That's

John chapter 3 verses 16 to 18. one and only

John 3:16–18

son that whoever believes in him should not perish

but have eternal life. For God did not send his

son into the world to condemn the world but in

order that the world might be saved through him.

Whoever believes in him is not condemned but

whoever does not believe is condemned already

because he has not believed in the name of the

only son of God. And the second Bible reading

is from 1 John chapter 2 and we're just looking

1 John 2 · chapter mention

at the first two verses That's 1 John chapter

1 John 2:1–2

2 verses 1 to 2 My little children I'm writing

these things to you so that you may not sin But

if anyone does sin we have an advocate with the

Father Jesus Christ the righteous He is the propitiation

for our sins and not for ours only but also for

the sins of the whole world And now it's Michael

to come up Morning again church It's great to

be together around the Word of God and before

we get into our text this morning Why don't we

ask God to help us in understanding? these words

of eternal life. Would you please pray with me?

Father God, we ask that as we come around these

inspired words that you have given to us, the

Church, to the world, that we wouldn't take for

granted what we're doing here this morning. That

you would be honored in this place. That you

would be that your son would be held high, that

your spirit would work freely among us through

the preaching of your word this morning. We ask

for this in Jesus' name and for your glory, Lord.

Amen. For the past few weeks, we've been working

our way through the first letter of John that

was written to the church in Ephesus. And as

we've seen, our apostle has been addressing some

false teaching that had found its way into the

church in regards to sin and how it relates to

the Christian life. If you think back over particularly

the last few verses, verses 6, 8 and 10, of the

previous chapter, chapter one, we've seen the

issue somewhat clarified and defined for us by

John's use of the phrase, if we say. Those little

if we say statements has been what John has responded

to thus far. For example, in the first claim

as we see there in verse 6, well that was something

to do with the false teachers and how they had

been saying that you don't need to care about

sin anymore because as they taught the Christian

soul had been united with God and so it didn't

matter what anyone did with their bodies anymore.

In the second claim as found there in verse 8,

well that was about addressing the issue that

once someone became a Christian they no longer

had a sin nature and thus could do as they pleased.

And the third claim as we see there in verse

10, well that was about addressing that as a

Christian you could actually stop sinning altogether

and become perfect on this side of kingdom come.

And so our apostle, he challenges the church

on what they were really in danger of falling

into by listening to these false teachers. He

addressed them to make it clear that as Christians,

we will struggle with sin on this side of kingdom

come. Because sin, it's an ongoing reality for

the Christian who still lives in the flesh. Now

over the past couple of weeks as we've looked

at John's teaching here, you may have started

thinking to yourself, like the original audience

was in danger of doing, that if sin is an ongoing

reality and if we're always going to be wrestling

and struggling and striving with it, then what's

the point of doing anything about it? Because

if we can't stop it, then what's the point in

fighting it? John had something to say about

that attitude to all of us this morning, because

he's in no way wanting to promote a lethargic

or even an empathetic attitude towards sin in

the church, but a culture of truth and holiness.

And so I want to show you just three things from

the text that we have before us this morning.

First, John tells us clearly why he's writing

to us the church. Second, he shows us the foundation

of our forgiveness and how we are to fight sin

every step of the way. And third, he shows us

the only hope that anybody has in this world

to have their sin fully forgiven. as they stand

before an Almighty God. And so if you have your

Bibles with you this morning, have a look with

me at just those first few words there in verse

one of chapter two. John says, my little children,

I'm writing these things to you so that, so that

you might not sin. Right, I think it's actually

pretty straightforward what our apostle is telling

us here. Everything that's come before, everything

that we've looked at so far in this series has

been about how real and true Christians live

in the light and the truth and the word of life,

which is the gospel of Jesus Christ. That's what

John has been talking to us about so far. He's

pointed out that the true Christian is someone

who once walked in darkness, but because of the

message of the apostles, because of the acceptance

of the truth of their claims and teaching, the

true Christian now walks in the light and the

life of Jesus Christ. But as John has said, as

the Christian, as we walk, as we walk, as we

walk in the light, well, we will struggle and

strive and battle with sin every step of the

way. And so John clearly tells us here from the

get -go, the reason that I told you about the

reality of the Christian life, my little children,

which is a... is a way of John reminding us all

that we're part of a spiritual family and not

doing this on our own. The reason that I told

you about all of this isn't so that you would

be disheartened and give up and give in. No,

I told you the truth so that, so that you would

know the reality of the Christian life, so that

you may not sin. Now this is really interesting

church because on the one hand our apostle knows

that we can't live without sin trying to hinder

and harm us every step of the way. Yet on the

other hand he wants us to hate our sin and to

abandon it and kill it wherever and whenever

we can. So straight off the bat we see why John

has written to us the Church. It's to encourage

us in our fight against sin and our life of holiness.

This shouldn't come as any surprise to us this

morning because if we think back to chapter one,

particularly verses three and four, John told

us that he was proclaiming the good news of the

gospel to us so that we might come into real

fellowship with God Almighty himself. And through

that fellowship experience a life of true joy

in relationship. with God and his people. Remember

that's how John opened this whole letter and

he did that because he wanted us to grasp something

essential when we truly understand the love and

the grace of God. When that reality really hits

home and sinks deep into our hearts, we begin

to see that a genuine relationship with Jesus

produces real and lasting joy. And when that

joy becomes real to us, we won't want to go back

into the sin and into the darkness in which we

were once enslaved. Picture this for a moment.

You're sitting next to a beautiful campfire on

a warm, a cold winter's night. The fire's warm,

it lights up the night sky and it keeps the darkness

at bay. You feel safe. You feel peaceful. You're

content. Then all of a sudden off in the distance

you hear fireworks. They explode, they're loud,

they're colourful and they're somewhat beautiful.

For a moment they seem more exciting than the

campfire that you're sat at. So you get up, you

leave the warmth and the safety of the light

and you run towards the entertainment. But by

the time you arrive, it's all gone. The sky is

dark again, there's no light, there's no warmth,

just pitch black, cold darkness. Brothers and

sisters, this is somewhat... of a picture as

to what John is showing us here. When we understand

the love and the grace of God as shown to us

through the Lord Jesus Christ, when we know the

joy of the Lord that's found in real and lasting

relationship with him, when we're walking in

the light and in the truth, then it really should

change our attitude towards sin. I mean, yes,

sin might seem more exciting and thrilling in

the moment, but how could we want to leave the

warmth of what we have for that darkness, that

entrapment once again? Well, John is straightforward

with us here this morning. He says if we understand

the reality of the Christian life, even the ongoing

sin that we will all face and what it's tempting

us to do to go back into the darkness, then we

will learn to hate it. You'll learn to ignore

the so -called fireworks that seem so very tempting

in the moment and want to grow in the grace and

the truth and in the joy of the Lord. It's the

first thing that we see here. We see why our

Apostle John has written to us the Church. It's

so we don't give up and give in to the sin that

wants to take us from the light. and to steal

our joy. The second thing that we see here is

John's encouragement for all Christians. You

see, John wants us to know that the Christian

has a source of strength and hope to overcome

the sin that so easily hinders us. And so how

do we live a godly life even while battling ongoing

sin on this side of eternity? Well, John tells

us here. John tells us, look to Jesus. Look to

Jesus, and as you do so, remember these three

things. Verse one, first, he is our advocate.

Now in context, this is actually a word that's

associated with the Greco -Roman law courts and

John uses this word because he wants us to picture

ourselves as standing before the judgment throne

of God and as we stand before him to be judged

for the things that we've done, John says, remember,

you have a representative, you have an advocate

in all of this. And he's not just any advocate,

he's Jesus Christ himself. He is the one who

represents you now and into all eternity. Now

there's something really interesting that I want

you to catch here church. Notice that yes, Jesus

is our advocate, but notice who he advocates

us before. John says it's before the Father.

It's before the Father, and I say this is interesting

because I think we're meant to feel the weight

of something in John's words here. You see, every

single Christian on the face of the planet knows

that as we walk in the light and the truth of

the Word of God, we see things in regards to

our own sin and failures. and that we deserve

punishment for the things that we've continually

given into as we struggle and strive and battle

sin. I mean, if we're honest with ourselves,

brothers and sisters, we know that we're not

perfect, no far from it. And we know that when

we slip and when we slide and when we forget

and when we cast off, we're guilty. And if we're

really honest with ourselves, We know that there's

nothing in and of ourselves that we can put forward

before the judge of the living and the dead to

justify ourselves with. I mean if we were to

be judged on our own merit we would be judged

guilty and condemned for all eternity. We know

that and that can weigh desperately heavy on

a tender conscience. But John says here, my dear

children, remember that at this very moment,

we have an advocate before our Heavenly Father.

And because of Jesus, your Heavenly Father loves

you more than you could possibly ever hope to

imagine. That's why he sent his son in the first

place. He chose you before the foundation of

the world and solved the problem of your sin

by the blood of his precious son on the cross.

And that very Jesus, that very one who gave his

life on your behalf, now stands before the Father

and pleads our case. He is. our advocate. It's

like standing in a courtroom knowing, knowing

beyond a shadow of a doubt that you're guilty.

Every failure in thought, word and deed is laid

bare for you to see and you know what the verdict's

gonna be. It's guilty and you know that judgment

is deserved but then Jesus steps forward. No

one denies the guilty charge mind you but he

simply says I have paid the price. And our Heavenly

Father, He looks at you. He looks at me, not

with wrath, but through the righteousness of

His precious, beloved Son. And as the gavel comes

down, it doesn't come down in condemnation, but

in grace. We are declared before Heaven's court,

forgiven, free. not guilty. That's the imagery

that John wants us to see in this word advocate.

Now there's something that we must not see here.

We're not meant to take away from this part of

scripture and that's that God the Father is somehow

versing God the Son in this scene. This isn't

about Jesus meek and mild versus an angry judge

intent on crushing us under his mighty gavel.

That's not the imagery we're meant to understand.

And that's because Jesus stands as our advocate

because our Heavenly Father He wanted to acquit

his people of their lawless deeds in the first

place. It's as we read before, for God so loved

the world that he gave, he gave his one and only

son that whoever believes in him will not perish

but have everlasting life. See Jesus stands before

our Heavenly Father and pleads mercy on us in

the first place because of the eternal plan of

the triune God on behalf of His chosen people.

This was the plan that they had from eternity

past to deal with the sin of His chosen people.

God wanted to send the Son, and get this, the

Son actually wanted to come, says the writer

to the Hebrews says, it was for the joy that

was set before him that he endured the cross.

And Jesus is now able to stand before the father

on behalf of us, because as we see here in the

rest of verse one, he is the righteous one. Jesus

is able to be our advocate, brothers and sisters,

because second, he is the righteous one. Now

this is really important that we get what our

apostle is telling us here. Because it's on the

merit of Jesus Christ and him alone that we are

able to be set free from the penalty that our

sin, our lawlessness, our law breaking, our wickedness

deserves. You see, as we saw last week, God is

righteous and just, which means that he doesn't

just wipe our sins. under the carpet whenever

we say sorry, no justice has to be served on

our sin and wickedness and lawless deeds that

we have really and personally committed against

him. And so the fact that John says that Jesus

is righteous, that he stands before the judge

of all the earth, Well, I would put it to you

this morning that he's actually saying a couple

of things. First, he's saying that Jesus in no

way broke the law of God. Why is that important?

Well, it's important because as Jesus stands

there, as our advocate, he stands there as someone

who has no sin in and of himself because he fulfilled

the law. as he came to live on this planet 2

,000 years ago in the person of Jesus. Now that's

incredibly important because he wouldn't be able

to stand and plead on our behalf, plead his life

on our behalf if he was a sinner himself. Now

Jesus had to live the life we couldn't. He had

to be the person that we could never possibly

hope to be so as to stand in our place and plead

his perfect life for our broken and sinful one.

A second reason that it's important that we understand

that Jesus is the righteous one is because he

took the penalty of what we deserve upon himself.

That, my dear ones, is what the cross is all

about. You see, you and I deserve the wrath of

God for our sin. We deserve hell. That's the

sentence. Yet because our Lord took the wrath

of God on our behalf, the great exchange, as

the Reformers call it, our place for His, His

perfect sinless life, was accepted as the absolute

and final sacrifice for our sin. Putting this

all together church, because of whatever you've

done, when God opens your ears to the gospel,

when he gives you the faith to trust in all that

Christ has done on your behalf. when all your

sin has been washed away and the Holy Spirit

comes to reside in you and you now call from

the depth of your hearts on God your Father.

That is a freedom. That's a privilege of not

just knowing things about God, but by being intimately

known by God. We are His and We belong to him.

What amazing grace. And that's what astounded

Paul with these Galatians. Because after all

they'd experienced, after all they'd been through,

after all that they suffered, as the King James

puts it, they were now willing and ready to turn

back to what they had been rescued from. In fact,

you might remember that's how Paul started his

whole letter to the Galatians, chapter one, verse

six. I'm astonished that you're so quickly deserting

the one who called you to live in the grace of

Christ and are turning to a different gospel.

Now this imagery church of being on a journey

and turning back from the way forward where we

get this imagery of backsliding and deserting

God isn't unique to Paul. It's actually a picture

that we see all throughout scripture. Think about

our Lord's sermon on the mount and how he described

the Christian life like a journey to his disciples

saying broad is the road that leads to destruction,

narrow the road that leads to life. And we're

warned in Scripture over and over again that

there are many things that are out to get us

to turn from the road that we are to continue

on. Like enemies that are out to tempt. Our own

faithlessness and Satan and the demonic realm,

just to name a few. That's why the Bible warns

that we must know the Word of God. That it must

be a lamp unto our feet. God said to Joshua that

we're not to turn to the left or the right. As

turning back to slavery like Israel wanted to

do has dire consequences for those that do so.

And that's exactly what Paul is worried about

with his brothers and sisters here. They come

to know God. They were walking with him but now

because of these false teachers and their doctrine

they were turning to something else than Jesus

alone and as a result deserting the one who called

them to live in the grace of Christ. What was

this something else? Well Paul gets specific

here in verse 10. He says, you're observing special

days, months, seasons and years. Now, straight

off the bat, you might be a bit like, what? That's

their problem? Out of all their cultic practices

with all their blood sacrifices and all that

temple prostitution, Paul is in fear of their

very souls because of calendar appointments.

Church, this is where we have to slow down. This

is where we have to really think about the text

that is before us this morning because this backsliding

is subtle and deadly serious. Paul says it here

in verse 11, I fear for you that somehow I've

wasted my efforts on you. Now we know in context

the Galatians had been infiltrated by the Judaizers.

They wanted these people to embrace Jesus but

come under all the Mosaic customs at the same

time for their assurance. Thus these days and

seasons that Paul has in mind here, they have

to do with the Jewish calendar. But what undergirds

this whole thing What makes it all so dangerous

was a desire on the Galatians part to again be

under the yoke of something that they had actually

been rescued from. And that was a pattern in

the created order, if you will, that they could

again point to and say, look. I followed this

set course. I've kept this day. I've done this

thing. Now God will really be pleased with me.

Now he really will accept me. We might say silly

ancient people, but really Paul is touching on

something here that can tempt every single one

of us in this room this morning. And that's the

temptation to use religion. as a way to look

for our justification. You see, the Galatians

were starting to look to something other, something

more than the final and finished work of Jesus

Christ so that they might feel more acceptable

to God and be more pleasing to him, so that,

like they thought with their own gods, he would

have to bless them. To say that another way,

they were turning back to these very things that

they were rescued from in regards to their pagan

practices, though with a different mask this

time. That's what Paul's identifying for us here.

These people had been rescued from a life of

being enslaved to observing certain times and

seasons for favour and luck. only to return themselves

to similar practices just with a different face

to it. And I say that we're all in danger of

this because each and every single one of us

in this room is tempted to succumb to something

other than looking to Christ alone for our assurance.

It's what Paul calls back -siding. I have to

admit, it's so much easier to think of back -siding

in regards to our friends who may have once been

so dedicated at church, at Bible studies, at

church camps, but then turned back to their old,

slavish masters and then seemed to just disappear

overnight. But is it possible Is it possible,

brothers and sisters, that while we think of

those people and identify only that as backsliding,

that we ourselves have been doing a very similar

thing, but with just a different mask to it?

Like using our dedication to church, our commitment

to Bible studies, our self -discipline with being

nice to strangers, our serving in various ministries

as something to hold up to God and say, see,

I am good and worthy. I deserve God's salvation.

Well, in a way, that's exactly what Paul is addressing

here. That mindset, that's what he calls backsliding.

He's saying to the Galatians, in fact, all of

us that look to something other than Christ alone

for assurance. If you're looking to certain religious

practices as a means to show God how good you

can be so that he has to accept and keep you,

you're going back. You're coming off the straight

and narrow. You're sliding back into slavery

with that mindset. You're turning back just with

a different mask to it. Church, when any of us

point to something other than Christ, in order

to feel like God will have to accept and bless

and keep you. No matter how religious it might

seem, no matter how pious it might be, well,

in looking to that thing, while holding to that

thing, you're actually putting yourself in slavery

all over again. That's at the heart of the matter.

Backsiding is, in this context, it's looking

to something other or more than Jesus for justification.

And as we've seen this morning, it is so much

more subtle and insidious than we often realise.

The prodigal son can go both ways in that case.

We can backslide into religion as well as away

from it. And Paul calls it for what it is. Next

he addresses the tragedy of backsliding there

in verses 12 through to 16. He says, Become like

me, for I became like you. You did me no wrong.

As you know, it was because of an illness that

I first preached the gospel to you. And even

though my illness was a trial to you, you didn't

treat me with contempt or scorn. Instead, you

welcomed me as if I was an angel of God, as if

I were Christ himself. Where then is your blessing

of me now? I can testify that if you could have

done so, you would have torn out your eyes and

given them to me. Have I now become your enemy

by telling you the truth? We are meant to feel

how personal Paul is getting here. We are meant

to feel the heart of the pastor pleading with

the congregations there. He remembers these people

with such fondness in regards to the first time

he met them and he thinks of them as family.

He was sick, but they loved him. They accepted

him despite him being a burden to them. That's

what Paul reflects on here. God led him to them.

He was ill and even though he was a trial to

them, they did all they could to help. And more

than that, they accepted what he had to tell

them, like a message from God himself. Notice

that verse 14, you welcome me as if I were an

angel of God, as if I were Christ Jesus himself.

Something interesting to reflect on here about

the context. weakness and sickness was a sign

that the gods weren't happy with a person. And

so Paul is saying that these people somehow they

saw through all of that cultural paganism and

they accepted and loved him for coming to them.

They love this man for bringing the gospel to

them and they did everything to make sure that

their brother was taken care of. It's a beautiful

picture of what a missionary or a pastor might

have with the people that he's brought the gospel

to. They're his children in that sense. But now

he wonders in verse 15. Now he wonders where

then is your blessing of me now. To put that

another way, Paul is pleading, he said you accepted,

you loved me because of what I came to tell you.

There's a love, a bond that's God given because

you knew that I was sent with the message that

open your eyes to set you free. But now, but

now have I become your enemy by telling you the

truth. That is the heart breaking, wrenching

question there in verse 16. This is a heartbroken

man. And that's what's meant to happen to the

hearts of God's people when we see our brothers

and sisters slipping back and falling away. It

should break our hearts. Because among other

tragic things, it ruptures the bonds of that

wonderful Christian fellowship that's been a

gift of God. Think again of those precious people

that you once fellowshiped with, that you had

that deep intimacy with, that great Christian

friendship, but then for whatever reason, something

other captured their heart.