Sovereign Grace Bible Church
These are the sermons and teachings of Sovereign Grace Bible Church in Biggsville, Illinois. We exist to fulfill the Great Commission through the Great Commandment within Gospel Community.
Sovereign Grace Bible Church
Christ: Our Defender and Sacrifice (1 John 2:1-2)
Ever felt like you're constantly falling short? Like your failures are piling up faster than your victories? You're not alone.
As believers, we struggle with the reality that we know exactly how bad our sins truly are. We put on brave faces, but inside, we're painfully aware of our shortcomings. The good news? This message speaks directly to that pain.
In this powerful examination of 1 John 2:1-2, we discover the incredible truth that while John writes so that we "may not sin," he immediately provides the greatest comfort for when we inevitably do: "we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." Unlike human relationships where greater offenses receive stronger condemnation, Christ's advocacy actually intensifies when our failures are at their worst.
The most stunning revelation? Jesus literally "lives to intercede" for you. While even the most dedicated pastor occasionally fails to pray for their congregation, Christ never misses a day advocating on your behalf before the Father. This isn't just a part-time activity—it's His ongoing purpose.
Beyond being our defender, Christ is also our sacrifice, "the propitiation for our sins." His blood is sufficient for everyone, everywhere, with no limitations. This transforms how we approach life, recognizing that salvation comes entirely by grace through faith, not by our efforts.
The world promises satisfaction through possessions, achievements, or relationships—yet these deliver only momentary pleasure before leaving us emptier than before. Christ offers something different: eternal purpose and a relationship that truly satisfies our deepest longings.
Whether you're carrying fresh failures or old wounds, take heart. Your Advocate hasn't given up on you. What would happen if you gave your life completely to the One who gave everything for you?
Go ahead and turn with me in your Bibles to the book of 1 John. As we've said before, at this church we practice expository preaching. That means every week you'll know exactly where we're at, because it'll be the next verses in the book of the Bible that we're currently going through. As we've gone through 1 John, we've had two messages thus far on the word of life and then walking in the light. What does that mean? What does that look like? And today we get to focus on Christ, which.
Speaker 1:Let's see how many of you, by a show of hands, failed at some point in time this last week. I don't know. Most of you are honest. That's good.
Speaker 1:We all come in with fears, with failures, with distractions, with discouragements. We come in with people that have lied about us, that have cheated on us, that have stole from us. We come from backgrounds where people have betrayed us, not thought the best of us, have not loved us, have hated us. We come from a life where we are told that these things, if you get them, will satisfy you. If you'll just get to a house, if you can just get a house, you'll be better. You just get that job, then you'll be happy. You just get the boy, get the girl, get the car, get in shape, get the ring, and so on and so forth. And what we realize every week, even though we don't want to admit it, is that every time you get it, there's something new to get, because it was a lie that told you that your life will be much better once you get this. There's a sense in which, when we get new things, when we succeed in life, that there is a victory. There is this freedom, this moment, and yet it never fully satisfies.
Speaker 1:One of the greatest aches and pains of the human heart is that you and I know, first and foremost, how bad of a sinner we truly are. You see the world every now and then gets glimpses right, you stub your toe and you yell at somebody in anger and we're like oh, that's uncharacteristic of that person. And you're like you have no idea the thoughts that go through my mind every time I see this one person. I just don't say it out loud. We have so many things that are built inside of us that we wrestle with every week, and no one knows how dirty I am on the inside the secret sins of my life better than I do. So if you've come today weary and heavy laden, if you've come today and said I've been a hypocrite this last week, if you've come today and said I have nothing to give anyone today, I have good news for you, because this message is for you. You see, the Bible is full of people that fail. In fact, if you look at the entirety of the story of the Bible, there's only one person who never failed, and that's Jesus. And there's a reason for that. It's because again, we've said this before you're not the hero of the story, you're not the main character of this event of life.
Speaker 1:You and I begin with the story of David and Goliath. You are never David, you are always the Israelites peeing behind the tent, scared to death. That's who you and I are. We come with nothing to give. We come with empty hearts and open minds, hoping and praying for life, for purpose, for meaning. And the world throws everything at us throughout the week. It says life and purpose and meaning are found in work, in sex, in money, in power, in fame. And it's really believable until you notice that celebrities are some of the most tortured individuals you'll ever meet. It's really believable until you actually get some money and you're like actually I just have more responsibilities. It feels like now than I did before. The satisfaction of this world is momentary, it's fleeting. You can get whatever you want in this life and it will come and it will go, and it will leave you emptier than before you got it, but there is something that remains forever.
Speaker 1:Please read with me God's holy word 1 John 2, verses 1 and 2. John says my little children, I am 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. Our text will break down into the following outline Verse 1 will be Christ our defender and verse 2 will be Christ our sacrifice. We begin with verse 1, christ our defender. John says my little children, now, if you're anything like me and a proud nincompoop on the inside, the first time I read 1 John, I think I was probably 19 or 20. I was newly saved and I read my little children and I was like that's demeaning, I'm a grown man, don't be calling me little kiddo. Okay, that's inappropriate. But often in the New Testament.
Speaker 1:When we have the apostles writing to churches, they use this kind of phrase my little children, my son, in the faith. Why do they use that? Well, if we put our pride aside for a second, we see that within the church there is actually this familial relationship, that there is a true sense in which the congregation as a whole looks to the elders with a father-like respect, honor and authority. In the same way that in the house there should be this sense of family shepherding, of a head of household, where the husband is not looked up to and given respect and honor because he's just that awesome, but rather is given those because of the position that he holds, which is not to be Mr In-Charge-of-Everything-and-Have-Everyone-Else-Do-Stuff, but is rather lead servant of his wife and children. We live in the upside-down kingdom.
Speaker 1:So when John says my little children, he is not being demeaning to them, he is not looking down on them. He is, with intimate love, saying you are my spiritual children. I preached the gospel to you and you were saved. I have loved you sacrificially for years. I have given my life for you. So there is no disparity between John the apostle and the people upon which he is speaking to. If anything, this is an affectionate, relational moment where he looks at them and says I love you.
Speaker 1:Now, why is that there? Because if you look at this, this is in the middle of this section. You would think that'd be at the beginning of the entire book, right Like an address. We talked about how this is not a normal letter that was just written like Apostle John to the church in Galatia grace and peace to you. None of that's there at the beginning. This is a theological writing that was made for a church.
Speaker 1:So what is his intent? Again, we have to look at the context. What did we just learn beforehand? Those last three verses were all about sin and he said if we have, if we say we have no sin, we're lying to ourselves. Okay, don't do that. But if we confess our sins, god is faithful and just to forgive us our sins. Praise the lord. If we say we have not sinned in, we're not continuing to sin in our lives. Even as Christians, we make God a liar After leveling this giant truth about sin. You have to confess that you are a sinner in need of a Savior. You need to be willing to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord and that you continue to wrestle with sin, even as a Christian, on a daily basis.
Speaker 1:He softens this harsh reality of truth because it doesn't feel good to expose yourself, right, right, unless you're in like the peak shape of your entire life, with washboard abs, you normally don't go around just like trying to wave everything around for everybody. Like that's not, that's not normal, right? You're like no, we're gonna cover that up. Like is there something to suck this part in? Like how can we get a better angle of me? Take a different picture? Like this is very normal for us. We don't want to be exposed. Don't like, like, I'll never forget that actually, as a man, like we are never allowed to take pictures. I don't know if you know that or not. I have been definitely told not to take pictures because the angle is wrong. And if you go up on a female, like right in this area, they don't have a beard there that covers anything and they don't like it. I'm here to tell you, I'm warning you, don't do it Now. Why does that matter? Because you and I don't like to face the truth.
Speaker 1:That's why the hardest part of a weight loss journey is explaining to people where you're currently at, where you were and what you really want them to focus on is where you used to be. Like, no, but look where I used to be. Don't compare me to that person over there. They're awesome. But like, look where I came from. We do that with every aspect of our life. Look, I used to swear like a sailor and now it's just like when I get angry and the kids threw something. You're like okay, that's great, I'm glad you've grown, the light's still exposing you and you can say all you want, but I'm an 8 out of 10 now. You're still not there. And the word of God convicts and compels you to confess your sin. No one likes being exposed, even a Christian who walks in the light.
Speaker 1:Now, that is why, at the end of that, he then softens and says my little children, you could almost call it my dear little children, you could almost call it my dear little children. What does he say? I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. Why is that? What's said next? My dear little children, you're like oh, it's soft. And he's like I'm writing this so you don't sin and you're like we're back in the sin thing again. I thought we were going somewhere sweet and we went right back here. Why would he say that?
Speaker 1:Well, it's actually very simple. See, you and I, when we have sin in our lives, what are the natural temptations? The natural temptations when we have sin in our lives is to lie to ourselves. It's not that bad I know people that are worse it's good, don't worry about it, I'll fix that later. I'll fix that relationship later. I'll fix that bad habit later. I'll stop looking at that later. What else? Well, we actually have a tendency as well to then look at the faithfulness of God and say, well, god will forgive me, and we use God's faithfulness as a license to sin, like, look, I know it's wrong, but God is love, so he'll forgive me and he can't change himself, so I can be sure of that. So I'm okay in this and I'll be all right.
Speaker 1:John wants to ground us in the truth and say, no, no, no, god's word is written. I just told you all of these truths for one main purpose so that you may not sin. You see, sin is something that we can tend to look at as this. You're holding me back from fun times, right, like? It's enjoyable to say a slanderous word. It's enjoyable to gossip. It's enjoyable to gossip. It's enjoyable to eat 18 donuts. It's enjoyable to have fun being irresponsible with time and money and energy and pour into all kinds of selfish things. It's fun to do that. And yet it not only is killing us on the inside, but it separates us from God relationally and it creates a barrier between us and God's people who also walk in the light.
Speaker 1:And that's why church membership is so important. That's why being a part of a body of believers is essential, because we need each other to pull each other back into the light, because you and I are not that cool, we're not that disciplined. We need a buddy, we need an accountability partner, we need someone that's going to stand in the gap and say that's too far. Come back with me. Come back with me. John says I'm writing these things so that you may not sin Immediately. He decides to release some of the pressure, and this is important, because I've listened to at least a handful of sermons on this text in my lifetime and most of them have focused on preaching to the people about how they're to live a sinless life, and this is a very convicting tone. You go and be a better Christian. You go and sustain your salvation. You go and be better.
Speaker 1:That is not the focus of this text. If we're reading this just like a normal English sentence, the focus of the text would not be you, the focus would be Christ. Look at this, john says but if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father. Jesus Christ the righteous. You see, there's this freedom that you and I walk in, that things like so. Not all Catholic churches, but Catholic theology would say that you and I are walking in justification. Right, the penalty of our sin has been paid for. And yet if we do certain sins, we drop below the justification line and now we're no longer justified. We have to do so many prayers and so many acts of service and then we'll be back up and we'll be in a good spot.
Speaker 1:The Bible says the complete opposite. The Bible says the complete opposite. The Bible says that if you and I are in Christ, not only did he die for our sins, but he continues to ongoingly pray for us and talk to his father and say I know how hard that is to say no to. I've been there before and I understand the pain they're going through. You see, jesus Christ is not so holy that he cannot understand your weakness, your struggle. But not only that. It says that we have this advocate with the Father. I need you to understand that when I am with my children and they do some sort of heinous thing, we have friends over for supper and they have little kids and one of my kids just grabs a block and just whams the back of the other kid's head, in that moment there is no advocacy in me of like Jesus is covering that. There is only like condemnation of what on earth are you doing? Thank God Jesus isn't like that. Thank God Jesus isn't like that. Because you see, when Jesus sees you and I sinning at this point, he looks at us with compassion. That's gone and says I know, I get it, I love you, I've covered that. That is paid for.
Speaker 1:You see, you and I have this tendency, especially the worst, the sin gets to react stronger against it, right. So when your friend sins in a small way against you, it bothers you. But if they started painting the town with a lie about you, the way you react increases, and you know what it doesn't increase in. Naturally, grace, it's not like you know what, like they're having a bad day and that's why they're doing this. And I've had bad days. I would probably do worse myself if I was in their same shoes. So it's going to be okay. I forgive them. We'll make things better. That is not the natural human response to a greater sin. Here's the good news of the day Is that when you and I are in sin sin and we are sinning in small ways Christ looks at us with compassion and says I love you. I understand I'm covering this. When you and I do the dirtiest, worst, disgusting sins, christ still looks at us with compassion and says I am advocating for you.
Speaker 1:Hebrews, chapter 7, verse 25, uses this language. It says Jesus lives to intercede for us. That's a lot to say. Like you know, like when people are really dramatic and they're like, oh my goodness, volleyball is life and you're like, no, stop it. Like you know, like when people are really dramatic and they're like, oh my goodness, volleyball is life, and you're like, no, stop it. Like volleyball is not, like it's not that big. Jesus lives to pray for you. That's an astounding fact, because I'm here to tell you that I fail daily to pray for all of you Weekly. I usually Christ daily lives to pray for you. He never fails, he never falters, he never gives up, he never gives in. He is always praying on your behalf If anyone does sin.
Speaker 1:We have an advocate with the Father, jesus Christ the righteous. This is very important. I want you to see that Jesus Christ is not one of the righteous. He is not a righteous like archetype or righteous. He is not a righteous like archetype or prototype. He is the righteous Similar to how he is, the way, the truth and the life. It's not that there's like some righteousness found in him or he has the access to all of the righteousness and he's able to give you some. He is righteousness, and I love our kids' catechism because it simplifies it greatly, where it says what is righteousness? And the answer is very simply that righteousness is God's goodness. It is pure, undiluted, perfect goodness. There is nothing bad in Jesus. There is nothing subpar, nothing mediocre. He is only perfectly good. And this one who is perfectly good looks at you, who is mostly not good ever, and says I pray for you, I love you, I'm in your corner.
Speaker 1:Verse 2, christ is our sacrifice. He is the propitiation for our sins. Propitiation is a word that just very simply means atonement. He is the one that atones for our sins. He is the sacrifice. He is the lamb of god, who takes away the sins of the world. He is the one who steps in the gap for you, not only at one time to pay the penalty you could never pay, but forever, indefinitely, for all of eternity, stands in the gap and says you are mine. No matter what's happened, no matter what you did today, no matter how you failed, no matter what fears you have, no matter what anyone has said about you, you are mine and I'm bringing you to heaven. You will be with me in paradise.
Speaker 1:Now the question becomes this though we can oftentimes hear God's word, and it's this general call Of Jesus as the sacrifice for your sins, and then we can misrepresent or misunderstand. How do we get from point A to point B If Jesus is the sacrifice for my sins and the verse goes on not only, not for yours only, for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world? Does the Bible say everyone's going to heaven? Answer no, if anything, jesus himself says. Many will say to me on that day Lord, lord, did we not do this in your name? Did we not attend church in your name? Did we not sing songs in your name? Teach kiddo messages. Did we not serve the poor and love people sacrificially? And Jesus will look at them and say get away, I never knew you. So how do we balance the fact that Jesus has paid a penalty for the whole world and yet the whole world will not be joining him in eternal bliss?
Speaker 1:Go ahead and turn with me in your Bibles to Ephesians, chapter 2 real quick. That'll be a little bit to your left in your Bible. There's no slide for this, because life happens that's not Patrick's fault. Okay, ephesians, chapter 2, verses 1 through 10, is the perfect picture of salvation. Okay, jesus Christ is the sacrifice of the world. What does that mean? Look at verse 1. Chapter 2, verse 1. And you were dead in the trespasses and sins. You were dead in your sin, unable to respond to the gospel, unable to do spiritual good on your own, to which you would say but Dan, people that hate God feed homeless people. They do good things, to which we would respond yes, because they're made in the image of God. What we're talking about is a spiritual good, and the Bible says there is none who are righteous, there are none who seek after God, and you and I don't get to define what good is, because, guess what?
Speaker 1:We didn't make the game. You ever played a board game with a kid and they make up the rules ahead of time? They're like, yeah, so you stop on, go. And you're like that's not, no, no, go is go. Nope, on this game. Stop is go. And you're like, okay. And then you have to keep the kid to the rules that they set at the beginning of the game and you're like no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Stop his go on this one. Just because it would benefit you for go to be go now does not mean that we change this.
Speaker 1:You and I do the same thing when it comes to spiritual good. We're like, okay, look, I'm pretty good, I do pretty good things. And then you do something terrible, because we all do terrible things from time to time. And you lie to someone straight to their face and don't care, and you're like but that I mean there was a reason for that. Like that one, like it had to, like they would have been sad and crying and would have been the scene.
Speaker 1:Like you and I are so good at making excuses for ourselves and seeing how everyone else is a sinner. You see, you and I are dead in our sins verse four but God being rich in mercy, because the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead in our trespasses made us alive together with Christ. Who does the saving? God does? You and I are along for the journey. You and I are helpless and hopeless and desperate, and God is the only answer and we have to humble ourselves before that and ask for his grace Verse eight for by grace you have been saved, through faith.
Speaker 1:Again, it's very important that we keep those in order. Grace is unearned favor. You did not earn a single bit of your salvation. Because you and I very easily, even in the church, look at stuff and we're like well, I'm not good enough for that, I haven't earned that, there are people much better than me for that. And it's like do you not understand that we're all idiots? Do you not understand that we all came as beggars with nothing to give? Do you not understand? The Bible says that the best we can offer God is filthy rags. We have nothing to give him and he gives us everything for our nothing.
Speaker 1:When what we are saved by grace, through faith. What is faith? Faith is understanding or knowing that Jesus is the only way that I have to believe in him alone for the forgiveness of my sins. It is agreeing with that truth and saying that truth is right Jesus is the only way. And then, lastly, it is trusting in that and saying I will lay down my life for this. Now I will change everything about my life for the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, who gave everything for me. That is what salvation looks like Now.
Speaker 1:When we look at that now, in 1 John 2, verse 2, it says he is the propitiation for our sins. He did all the work, but no one is getting to heaven unless they believe this. We are saved by grace, through faith in Jesus Christ alone, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. Okay, how does that reconcile? Because we just said not everybody's going to heaven. In fact, many will not go to heaven. How does that add up? And it's very simple what we are saying with this text, what God is saying with this text, is that salvation is more than enough for every single person. It's not like Jesus' blood could only cover up to 110 million people and once we've hit the quota, jesus' blood's no longer enough. What else? Well, it's not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. Because you and I are to go out to everyone in the world and to preach the gospel and to tell them the truth, that there is hope, that there is a savior, that there is a reason for living. And it's not you. You're not enough. It's not your favorite idol, it's not food, it's not fame, it's not fortune, it is Jesus Christ. What is your purpose in life, christian? It is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever.
Speaker 1:When I was a teenager, people would tell me all the time I wasn't a Christian yet, but I grew up in church and they would tell me all the time don't sleep with your girlfriend, don't mess around, it's not good for you. God says so and I was like have you ever kissed a girl? I'm here to tell you experiments have been proven here that have gone against what you're saying. This is good, this is good stuff. Okay, as a 15-year-old, that's not saved. You could not convince me that God's word was true, that God's design was for me to be with one woman for the rest of my life and to be pure and to keep my eyes pure from all of the adultery in this world, all the pornography in this world. No one could have convinced me of that. Even when I was struggling out of all those things, no one could convince me of it. I was just convinced that, like, maybe God's way is better. So I'm going to try really hard. I don't like this habit. I don't like being this kind of person, so I'm going to work on it.
Speaker 1:Similar to losing a hundred pounds, you don't realize how terrible your life is until you lose that weight and you're like, oh my gosh, have you guys ever, like, stood on your tippy toes and jumped somewhere else? I didn't know you could do that. This is so cool. I remember the first time that I was really overweight and I lost weight. There was a moment where I ran down a hallway in college and I just felt like a feather light on my feet and I was like, why did no one tell me that your joints don't hurt as bad? This is great.
Speaker 1:The truths of God are best experienced firsthand and handed down from generation to generation. You see, the world is convincing us daily through social media, through work, through culture, the society at large, that you will not be happy unless you get these extra goodies. And here is the. The crazy part is that sin does satisfy for a second and then it leaves you worse afterwards. The righteousness of christ giving your life to christ when you are not saved sounds like eating raw kale. You're like, okay, I could just be a stick in the mud that just wears like a chastity belt and doesn't go to parties and doesn't do anything fun. Yeah, okay, yeah. And yet on the other side if you could just get to the other side there is bliss, there is hope, there is a future, there is life to be had, and the greatest thing is that you can't earn it. You never could, you never will and you'll never have to.
Speaker 1:My dear friends, this is a truth worth dying for. This is a truth worth laying your life down and saying God everything in my life, all the things I enjoy, all the things I'm good at, everything I have in me, all the relationships I put on the table and say take and give as you please, and I will bless your name. We have an opportunity here in Henderson County, in the surrounding area, people dying without a Savior, and you and I have the keys to the kingdom, and the thing that holds us back usually is simply a fear of man. It's our own sin, it's our own selfishness, it's our own sin, it's our own selfishness, it's our own comfort and desires. So what I'm asking you today is to look at the compassion of your Savior when he looks at you in your worst sin and still loves you, and to have that same bleeding heart for the not-so-nice ugly run down sinful community that's around you. Because, guess what? Everyone looks really pretty on the outside and on the inside they're tormented, entertaining themselves to death, to death. And you and I have the antidote, we have the fix. I'm calling you to give your life for something greater than you. He is so worth it and worth so much more, and you will be blessed beyond all measure when you lay your life down at the cross.
Speaker 1:Let us pray, father. We come before you and Lord, we just pray that you would do a mighty work in our hearts and our minds. We pray that you would change us from the inside out, that you would give us your heart, for your people and for the people around here. That, similar to how you wept over Jerusalem and said that you wished they would come to you, that we would weep for the community around us that continues to try to find their answer, their fulfillment, their satisfaction in anything but you, lord, help us to be bold. Help us to be transformed. Help us to be known as a people of love, who love you first and foremost and love those you have placed around us. Help us to be your hands and feet and to speak your truth in love. May your name be high and lifted up and glorified and praised and honored in this place. In Jesus' name, we pray amen.
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