The Purpose of the Letter, Part 2: Sin
The Book of 1 John • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Introduction
Introduction
Last Sunday evening, I began a miniseries on the purpose behind the Epistle of 1 John. There are four verses in this wonderful letter that tell us why the letter was written.
Last week, I preached on the first verse, or first purpose, and tonight, we will get the second one Lord willing.
Just to review, let’s take a look at these four verses and four purposes real quick:
4 And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.
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:
26 These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you.
13 These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.
Last week, I already mentioned, we looked at 1 John 1:4 and the thought of Joy in the believer’s life.
Tonight, we will look at 1 John 2:1 and see what we can learn from it.
To begin, it’s important to see who John is writing to...
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:
“My little children,” is who this is addressed to, so we already know, he’s writing to believers, he’s saying, “I don’t want you to sin, but if you do sin, we have an advocate.”
That should be our attitude as well…
Two Groups
Two Groups
We have a problem though; there are two groups of extremes when it comes to this.
One group says, “Sin all you want…after all, we have 1 John 1:9”
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
I mentioned this type of person last Sunday and how there are actual people that believe, it’s ok, I’ll live it up, I’ll sin all I want, I know it’s wrong, but God will forgive me and that’s all that matters.
I mentioned last week that there’s no more sure way to tell a person is out of fellowship with God that when they say things like this.
The second group is the exact opposite of this extreme and they say they don’t sin at all, or can’t sin. They get this from:
9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.
A careful reading of this verse and some context of this verse will refute the belief that one does not or cannot sin. Just look at the colon: it’s talking about the seed remaineth in him.
There are two natures living within the Christian - when we sin, the flesh is sinning, not the seed from the Holy Spirit within us: - Just listen to Romans 7:
17 Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. 18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. 19 For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. 20 Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Listen to me right here…It’s not that we are sinless, it’s that we sin less!
Let me get some facts out of the way from the Word of God:
The Christian can commit sin:
8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
The Christian should confess sin:
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
The Christian is never to cover sin:
13 He that covereth his sins shall not prosper:
But whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.
The Christian can conquer sin:
7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
Our text tonight says:
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:
Notice that word “Advocate” - This word is rendered lawyer in our English. It means literally, “one called along side”. When one is called to court, he takes an advocate, a lawyer, to stand by his side and plead his case.
John was not a perfectionist, but he was a realist. God’s people do fall into sin, God’s people do stray and stumble and fall. There are times that we all need to be picked up, cleaned up, and put back on the narrow way. That encourages me to know that when we sin that we are not condemned. We have an advocate with the Father.
◦ We have an advocate in our hearts in the Person of His Spirit
◦ and we have an advocate in heaven in the Person of His Son.
Warren Wiersbe said it like this, “We have fellowship with the Father through the Son, and the Father has fellowship with us through the Spirit.” Jesus is our advocate in heaven and He is our advocate in our heart.
Lehman Strauss wrote, “His present work in our behalf continues as real as was His death in our behalf. The Righteous One having suffered for the unrighteous, the Father is now satisfied. We owe all to our blessed Substitute and Advocate, even our restoration to fellowship with the Father after we have sinned.”
Thank God that we have a representative with the Father.
The subject tonight is “sin” - We are going to sin, that’s a fact! When we do sin, we can do something about it, we have an advocate!
So from here, I want to give you some things that sin will do in your life:
Sin Will Keep Your Prayers From Being Answered:
Sin Will Keep Your Prayers From Being Answered:
18 If I regard iniquity in my heart,
The Lord will not hear me:
Sin separates and hides God’s face from us:
Sin separates and hides God’s face from us:
1 Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save;
Neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear:
2 But your iniquities have separated between you and your God,
And your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.
Sin will keep your prayers from being answered, also:
Sin Will Keep You From Having Joy As A Christian:
Sin Will Keep You From Having Joy As A Christian:
12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation;
And uphold me with thy free spirit.
We spent some time on this last Sunday evening, but David had let sin rob his joy, the joy of God’s salvation!
165 Great peace have they which love thy law:
And nothing shall offend them.
The great love that the psalmist had for the law brought real benefits to his life. It brought him great peace and stability in life…He wasn’t offended, and all this brought him great joy!
I want you to notice this though, Boyce wrote, “This verse does not promise peace to those who perfectly keep God’s Law, for who can keep it? It promises peace to those who ‘love’ God’s Law.”
My Pastor gave me a Bible when I surrendered to preach and another one when I was ordained, and in both of them, he wrote a great quote from D.L. Moody, it says, “This book will keep you from sin, or sin will keep you from this book.”
Sin will steal your joy, also:
Sin Will Keep You From Having A Full Life:
Sin Will Keep You From Having A Full Life:
16 If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it.
Think about Ananias and Sapphira over in Acts 5; they were a Christian couple who lived in Jerusalem in the early church. They sold a piece of property and brought the proceeds to the apostles, intending to give it to the church. However, they kept back part of the money for themselves, and lied to Peter about it.
Peter, through the Holy Spirit, knew that they had lied, and he called them out on it.
Ananias immediately fell down dead, and Sapphira died a few hours later when she came to the apostles and repeated the lie.
I believe this with all my heart ya’ll...Sin will send you to an early grave!
Now, listen, we serve the same God that existed back then. He’s not changed, He cannot change!
The reason why I believe so many people in Churches today can get by with what they do is because they’ve never been saved! I believe if many did what they do and they were truly saved, God would send them to an early grave for disgracing His name!
I’m not trying to be ugly with that, I believe that because the Bible backs it up!
I know I’ve been talking to Christians tonight because of the context of 1 John 2:1, but I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the obvious one:
Sin Will Keep You From Heaven If You’re Not Born Again:
Sin Will Keep You From Heaven If You’re Not Born Again:
The Bible says,
7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
27 And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.
18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
Conclusion
Conclusion
In conclusion, sin is a serious matter.
It separates us from God and has consequences both in this life and the next. But there is good news! Jesus Christ came to earth to die for our sins. He took the punishment that we deserve so that we could be forgiven and have eternal life. If you have sinned, I encourage you to repent and turn to Jesus for forgiveness. He is waiting for you with open arms.