Our scripture reading, to which I invite you to turn with me at this time, is found near the end of the Bible in the first epistle of the Apostle John, beginning in the first chapter. Not the Gospel of John, but the first epistle of John, chapter 1. Near the end of the Bible, you'll find 1st, 2nd Peter, 1st, 2nd, 3rd John, Jude, Revelation, 1st Peter, chapter 1. We begin our Scripture reading in the first verse of the first chapter of 1 John. We read through verse 6 of the second chapter. But I draw your special attention, brothers and sisters, to the first six verses of that second chapter, as those verses will constitute our text for today. 1 John 1, beginning in verse 1, hear then the word of the Lord. That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched. This we proclaim concerning the word of life. The life appeared. We have seen it and testify to it. And we proclaim to you the eternal life which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ. We write this to make our joy complete. This is the message we have heard from Him and declared to you. God is light. In Him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with Him, yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another. and the blood of Jesus His Son purifies us from all sin. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar and His Word has no place in our lives. My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have One who speaks to the Father in our defense, Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours, but also for the sins of the whole world. We know that we have come to know Him if we obey His commands. The man who says, I know Him, does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him. Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did. Thus far, the reading of God's Holy Word. And as always, dear friends, I ask and urge you to keep your Bibles open and handy as we look to God's Word together on this Lord's Day. Dear congregation of Jesus Christ, does the name Johnny Cochran mean anything to you? The name Johnny Cochran? Well, as many of us may know, Johnny Cochran now deceased, was the lead defense attorney for former football star OJ Simpson. He was being prosecuted for the double murder of his wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ron Goldman, back in the year 1995. Now, friends, even though many millions of our fellow citizens are firmly convinced Justice was by no means served, given the complete acquittal of O.J. Simpson in that particular murder trial. The fact of the matter is that O.J. Simpson was not and is not the only person who ever lived who was and is in dire need of an attorney for the defense, of an attorney for the defense. In fact, think about that. You see, because the Bible says that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, Romans 3.23, and because the Bible says that the wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, Romans 1.18, And because the Bible also says that we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad, 2 Corinthians 5, 10, you and I and every man, woman and child who ever lived are also in dire and desperate need of an attorney for the defense, that is, in God's heavenly court. We need a defense attorney in God's heavenly court. Ah, but notice, As we turn our attention to the words of our text for today, as recorded for us in 1 John 2, verses 1 through 6, we find that even amidst the darkness of our sin, even amidst the increasing decay of our culture in this sin-cursed, hell-bent world, even in such a context, the Bible says that the light of the glory of the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ shines through. In fact, dear friends, as we begin to work our way through these select verses then together, we come to the realization that there are at least three key biblical principles that each and every one of us must profess and practice in order for us, along with the Apostle John and our brothers and sisters in the early church, to be able to live and die in praise of our paraclete. In praise of our paraclete. Now that begs the question, does it not, what exactly is a paraclete? Not a parakeet, boys and girls, but a paraclete. What is a paraclete? Well, that word is used in the original language in verse 1 of our text. So look at 1 John 2, 1 with me, if you would. Here John writes, My dear children, the Greek word is technia. It's a very affectionate term. It's a term of endearment. It also kind of indicates to us that John was at a rather advanced age when he wrote this epistle, writing to those whom he considered to be his children in the faith. My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, now notice, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense. If we were to take all those words, one who speaks in our defense, that's a single word in the original language. And the word is parakletos. That's where we get our word paraclete from. We have a paraclete. And one Greek lexicon defines that term paraclete as follows, and I quote, someone who is called to one side to plead another's cause before a judge, a legal counsel, or advocate for the defense, end of quote. Ah, but now some of us might well ask, well, Pastor Kugin, I thought that the Holy Spirit was our paraclete. Doesn't the Bible refer to the Holy Spirit? as our Paraclete? And is it not so that in John 16, verse 7, Jesus Himself declares to His disciples, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor, the Comforter, the Paracletos will not come to you, but if I go, I will send Him to you. It seems very clear to me there that the Holy Spirit is our Paraclete, and that's true. Friends, turn with me for a moment, if you would please, to the Gospel according to John, the 14th chapter, the 16th verse, where our Lord Jesus again addresses this subject and He uses that very same word of parakletos or paraclete. John 14, verse 16, look with me please. Jesus is speaking to His disciples. And He says, And He will give you another Counselor, another Comforter, another Parakletos, to be with you forever, the Spirit of Truth." Now friends, notice the specific terminology that Jesus is using. He says, I will ask the Father and He will give you another Counselor, another Paraklete, that is, one beside Myself. Now think about that. Why in the world do we need two paracletes? Why do we need two paracletes? Think about that. The Holy Spirit in Jesus Christ. Well, apart from the fact that Jesus in His humanity could only be in one particular place at one time, whereas the Holy Spirit can be in and with all believers everywhere at the same time, the primary reason why we need two paracletes, brothers and sisters, is this. And listen very, very carefully, please. The Holy Spirit is Christ's paraclete with us on earth. Jesus Christ is our paraclete with the Father in heaven. Isn't that beautiful? The Holy Spirit is Christ's paraclete with us on earth. But Jesus Christ is our paraclete with His Father in heaven. All glory be to God! All glory be to God! And once again, if you and I then truly desire to live and die in praise of our Paraclete in this context, the Paraclete being our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, then we must first of all profess and practice this first key biblical principle that's recorded in the words of our text. Principle number one, the slaying of sin. The slaying of sin. Let's go back to 1 John 2 together. Look again with me, if you would please, at verse 1, where again we read, My dear children, John writes, I write this to you. We might ask, I write what to you? Well, he rewrites everything that he has said thus far. And if you'll skim over those first several verses in the first chapter, for example, John has been speaking of the fact that he was an eyewitness of the new life that is to be found solely in our Lord Jesus Christ. He is speaking here of the tremendous spiritual warfare in which each and every one of us is engaged. The battle between light and darkness. He has spoken of the fact that we are all sinners. He has spoken of the fact that the cleansing of such sin comes only through the shed blood of Christ on Calvary, and so on. And then he gets to verse one of chapter two and he says, my dear children, I write this to you, the things that we have just summarized once again. I write this to you. Why? So that you will not sin, so that you will not sin. Now, think about that. Why do you suppose in this particular place? John says that. In this context, he says, I write this to you so that you will not sin. Hamarton is the Greek verb, by the way. It's the verb form of the noun hamartia. You may recall that hamartia means missing the mark. That's what sin is, hamartia. It means missing the mark, and the mark is the will of God as revealed in the word of God summarized in the law of God. But why does John say that here? I write this to you so that you will not sin. Well, friends, one of the reasons I believe is because given all that John has said in the sense of such sound biblical teaching about the forgiveness of sin and the cleansing of sin and the purifying of sin, I believe that under the inspiration of the Spirit, John might have thought that some folks might have been tempted to say what the Apostle Paul says in Romans 6, verse 1, to paraphrase, well, if all this is true, let us sin so that grace may abound. You know what I'm saying? Let us sin then so that grace may abound. And in Romans 6, verse 2, Paul answers that erroneous thought by saying, Meganoita in the original, by no means, by no means. And so John says, I write this to you so that you will not sin. I write this to you so that you will not sin. And then he goes on, does he not? I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, and we know that we're going to sin because we're all sinners. In fact, think about this. We are not sinners because we sin. We sin because we're sinners. See the difference? David says in Psalm 51 verse five, I was conceived and born in sin. The Reformed theologians refer to that as being totally depraved. Doesn't mean every person is as bad as they possibly could be, but it means every complete aspect of our being, our thinking, our emotions, our affections, our actions, are all infected with this disease of sin. And so, brothers and sisters, the point is that even in spite of how great is the grace of God, Even in spite of how magnificent is the mercy of God and how great we ought to praise God for His amazing grace and His magnificent mercy, the fact of the matter is that by the person and power of His Holy Spirit, you and I each and every day need to hear and we need to heed this exhortation that the Apostle Paul gives us in Colossians 3, verses 5 and following, Colossians 3, 5 and following, where we read, listen carefully please, put to death Mortify, crucify therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature, the flesh. Sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways in the life you once lived. But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these, anger, rage, malice, slander and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. You see, that is why the Apostle John in verse 1 of 1 John chapter 2 again declares, my dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. So that you will not sin. Brothers and sisters, if you and I truly desire to live and die in praise of our paraclete, then first of all we must profess and we must practice in the power of the Holy Spirit the slaying of sin. The slaying of sin. Abba, notice. A second key biblical principle, which we must all profess and practice if we sincerely desire to live and die in praise of our paraclete, is the confessing of Christ. The confessing of Christ. Verse 1, once again, of 1 John. Look with me, please. 1 John 2, verse 1. My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin, but if anybody does sin, And don't you strongly suspect that the time will come when we will sin? The Apostle Paul himself declares in Romans 7 verse 19, for what I do is not the good I want to do, no, the evil I do not want to do. This I keep on doing. And that was Paul. Can you identify with that? I can. I can. In fact, here in verse eight of first John one, he says, if we claim to be without sin, listen, We deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. Let's not kid ourselves, John is saying. And in verse 10 of that first chapter he says, if we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives. And so he says, my dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, get this, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense, our paracletos, our paraclete, Jesus Christ, the righteous one, the righteous one. Boys and girls, young people, what do you believe it means when John refers to Jesus Christ as the righteous one? Why does he call Christ the righteous one? Well, the reason, you see, is because Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ alone was, is and forever will remain completely sinless, completely sinless. He is completely, totally righteous. He stands in God's heavenly court without any debt, if you will. And because Jesus had no debt in God's heavenly court, that's why He could pay the penalty for your debt and for mine. That's why He could take on your suffering and mine. The suffering that you and I should have paid because of what we owe God, because of our sin. In fact, I've said this many times down over the years, but it is oh so true. If Jesus Christ did not hang on Calvary's cross and cry, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? for you in time. My friend, you are going to have to make that cry in hell for all eternity. For all eternity. That's the fact of the matter. And so we look here to our paraclete, we look here to our advocate, we look here to our defense attorney. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins. We have one who speaks to the Father in our defense, Jesus Christ, the righteous one. And friends, that is why we must rejoice in what the Apostle Paul says as he summarizes this good news of the gospel in 2 Corinthians 5 verse 21, where Paul writes concerning Christ, God made him who had no sin to be sin for us. Why? So that in him, in Christ, we might become the righteousness of God, the righteousness of God. Think of it. I've used this illustration again many times over the years with young people, but it's so powerful, I believe. If this book were the record of all of our sins, every sin, my friend, that you and I have ever committed, it's weighing us down, it's rendering us guilty before God, worthy of eternal judgment. And here, this other hand represents Jesus Christ and His perfect sinlessness and righteousness. On Calvary's cross, what Martin Luther calls the great exchange took place. And on Calvary's cross, our sin was laid on Christ. It was taken off of us. All those who by God's grace, through faith, profess faith in His holy name. And His righteousness, His sinlessness, His holiness, His perfection is imputed to us. It is applied to us. It is transferred to us. It is accredited to our account. God made Him who had no sin be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. And, oh, my dear, dear friends, that is why, as the Apostle Paul goes on here in 2 Corinthians 6, verses 1 and 2, he declares, as God's fellow workers, we urge you not to receive God's grace in vain. What he means by that is that you may have heard this all before. You may have known the Gospel for many years. You may have sat in church from the time you can remember two, three times a day. That's not the point. You could do that and still receive the grace of God in vain. And that is why Paul goes on to say, in the time of my favor, I heard you. And in the day of salvation, I helped you. I tell you now is the time of God's favor. Now is the day of salvation. And that all boils down to this question. Have you personally become reconciled to God? By his grace, through faith in Jesus Christ. Have you personally become reconciled to God by His grace through faith in Jesus Christ? I'm not asking if you are in church every Sunday. I am not asking if your parents or grandparents believe. I'm not asking if you go to Sunday school. I'm not asking if you have Christian friends. I'm not asking if you go to Christian school or homeschool. Those aren't the ultimate questions. The ultimate question that every one of us has to answer for ourselves is this, by the grace and mercy of God, have we personally repented of our sins and profess faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior? You see. My friend, if you have not, if you have not, I respectfully and earnestly plead with you today, before it's too late, none of us knows if we will have the breath of life tomorrow. Look at the newspapers, from little boys and girls, through teenagers, through those in middle age, to those who are ages. We're one heartbeat away from eternity. Let us never forget that. So if you have never before done so, even in this hour, repent of your sins and profess faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, because He is the only hope for salvation that any of us have. That any of us have. In fact, that is why the apostle John goes on to affirm this eternal gospel truth in verse 2 of our text. Let's go back there together to 1 John 2. 1 John 2, and we'll go right on into verse 2. My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense, Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice. The Greek word is helasmos, h-i-l-a-s-m-o-s, helasmos. And some of the older translations translate it very literally, propitiation. But it's an old-fashioned word, so a lot of the newer translations don't use it. But that's the word, propitiation. You say, what does propitiation mean? Appreciation essentially means appeasement, appeasement. It essentially means to satisfy, to avert, to turn away, to appease, listen, the righteous wrath of a holy God. That's what it means. And Jesus Christ is the only one who does that. He is the atoning sacrifice, the propitiation, the one who appeases the righteous wrath of this holy God for our sins. And not only for ours, but also for the sins of the whole world. It doesn't mean He covers the sins of the whole world. It simply means that He is the only Savior and propitiator this old world has. And it means that people from every language, tribe, people and nation will come to faith in Christ, will have their sins covered by His blood, and we will spend eternity together with them in glory. In fact, I was thinking about that the other day. I said to myself, if we're going to be spending eternity together up there, we better learn how to get along with one another down here. It's really true. We are the family of God. They say you can't pick your relatives. Well, if you're in the family of God, those are your relatives. And we're going to be spending eternity together. But think of that again, that word propitiation, halasmos. John's the only one of the New Testament writers who uses that word, that particular term in the original, in that particular form. And he only does so two times. He does it here in the words of our text, in verse 2, but he also uses the word over in 1 John 4, verse 10. Just turn over there with me again for a moment, if you would. In 1 John 4, verse 10, he uses that word again, and he says, This is love, agape, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as a helasmos, a propitiation, an atoning sacrifice for our sins. And so again, my dear, dear friends, that that begs the question, do you know him? Do you love him? Have you become reconciled to God through him? Jesus said, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the father. Except through me. And our answer to that question as to whether He is ours and we are His will literally affect the eternal destiny of our eternal souls. Every one of us has to answer that question, and it'll determine where we spend eternity. You say, well, I won't answer the question. Well, then that's your answer to the question, and the consequences are eternal. John the Baptist. John chapter 3 verse 36 passionately proclaims whoever believes in the Son has eternal life But whoever rejects the Son will not see life for God's wrath remains on him. Why there was no propitiation There's no defense attorney There was no atoning sacrifice apart from Christ you see And so my dear dear friends in the Lord in order for us to live and die in praise of our paraclete we must possess, we must profess, we must practice the confessing of Christ. The confessing of Christ. My third and final biblical principle which we must all profess and practice in order for us to live and die in praise of our paraclete is the obligation of obedience. The obligation of obedience. Look at verse 3 of 1 John 2 with me if you would please. John continues by saying, we know that we have come to know Him if, condition, we obey His commands. We know that we have come to know Him if we obey His commands. Sound familiar? Jesus said that many times through the course of His earthly ministry. For example, in Matthew 7, verse 21, Jesus said, Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven. In John 13, verse 17, Jesus says, now that you know these things. You will be blessed, period. No. John 13, 17, now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them. Period. John 14, verse 15, Jesus says, if you love me, you will obey what I command. If you love me, you will obey what I command. And what a great way to take spiritual inventory. What a great way to check up on ourselves spiritually, especially as we prepare to partake of the Lord's Supper. If you love me, you will obey. what I command." Friends, the Apostle John summarizes this in such powerful fashion in the remaining verses of our text. If you'll look with me at 1 John 2 verses 4 and following, John goes on to say, the man who says, I know him, but does not do what he commands is a liar and the truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in Him. That is, this is how we know that we are branches grafted into the vine, our Lord Jesus Christ, by God's grace through faith. Here's how we can tell. This is how we know we are in Him. Whoever claims to live in Him must walk as Jesus did. Must walk as Jesus did. That's how you tell. I love the words to that old Sunday school song that the children sing. because it so succinctly and simply conveys this sublime gospel truth. The words go like this, When we walk with the Lord in the light of His Word, what a glory He sheds on our way! While we do His goodwill, He abides with us still, and with all who will trust and obey. Trust and obey, for there is no other way. to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey. Amen. Let's bow our heads and our hearts in prayer together. O Lord, our God, by your grace and mercy, by your strength and spirit, Enable and empower each and every one of us and ours, we pray, today and every day, to profess and practice the slaying of sin, the confessing of Christ, and the obligation of obedience, so that we too might live and die in praise of our Paraclete, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, in whose name alone we pray. Amen.