Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / We Have an Advocate Msg 1212 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living

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We Have an Advocate Msg 1212 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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  Speaker 1: For quite some time we have been considering various names
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  Speaker 1: and titles of Jesus Christ. Let me do a little
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  Speaker 1: review with you and see if you can recall a
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  Speaker 1: few of them. We've looked at together in the scriptures.
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  Speaker 1: We've seen Jesus as he is called Lord curios, the
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  Speaker 1: one who has the right to rule over us. And
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  Speaker 1: then we looked at the amplified of that, king of
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  Speaker 1: kings and Lord of lords, and we learned that it
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  Speaker 1: means he is king over all who may call themselves king,
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  Speaker 1: and he is lord above all who may declare themselves lord.
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  Speaker 1: He's the king of all the kings, and he's Lord
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  Speaker 1: over all who may say they are lords. And then
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  Speaker 1: it was Messiah, and we saw the thrust of that
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  Speaker 1: as it flowed through the scriptures. And then Alpha and Omega.
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  Speaker 1: Jesus is called that on more than one occasion. Then
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  Speaker 1: we looked at Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John in one
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  Speaker 1: of our studies, and we saw him as king and
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  Speaker 1: servant and son of Man and God portrayed in the gospels.
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  Speaker 1: Then we looked into John fifteen and found that he
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  Speaker 1: was called the Vine or the true Vine. And we
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  Speaker 1: are called the branches Following that, it was John ten
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  Speaker 1: where we saw him portrayed as the Shepherd of the sheep,
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  Speaker 1: and then as the Lamb of God. And then it
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  Speaker 1: was John fourteen The Way, the Truth and the Life,
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  Speaker 1: the definite articles very important, not away and one of
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  Speaker 1: the truths and something about life, but the way in
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  Speaker 1: the Truth and the Life. And then last we looked
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  Speaker 1: at his role as mediator, the one who is the
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  Speaker 1: goal between between humanity and the living Holy God. And
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  Speaker 1: now this final time we are looking at his title
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  Speaker 1: as advocate. Advocate. There is something about names that change
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  Speaker 1: our minds. I met a young lady following one of
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  Speaker 1: our morning services recently, beautifully attired, rather petite and quiet spoken,
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  Speaker 1: and we talked for a while and after about a
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  Speaker 1: oh I would say, two or three minute discussion and
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  Speaker 1: dialogue together, I found out that she's in the military.
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  Speaker 1: I would have never guessed that. And then I discovered
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  Speaker 1: that she was a career military person. In fact, she's
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  Speaker 1: a major in the Air Force. I wouldn't have guessed
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  Speaker 1: that at all. But once I found out her title,
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  Speaker 1: it somehow changed my relationship with her. There was a
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  Speaker 1: there was a new dimension of her life that was
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  Speaker 1: introduced just by hearing that other people call her major,
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  Speaker 1: they call her an officer. The friend she was with
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  Speaker 1: is the CEO of a rather large organization that the
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  Speaker 1: lady has begun, and therefore the maor's friend is seen
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  Speaker 1: as the boss, the CEO of an organization. When I
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  Speaker 1: found that out again, knowing the title changed my feeling
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  Speaker 1: toward her my relationship. I heard this past week about
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  Speaker 1: a man who had never been ice fishing, so he
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  Speaker 1: got all the paraphernalia together to fish on the ice,
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  Speaker 1: and late one evening he slipped into the ice and
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  Speaker 1: he put the tent up, and he began to chop chop, chop,
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  Speaker 1: chop chop to get through the ice. And he heard
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  Speaker 1: a voice, and the voice said, there are no fish there,
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  Speaker 1: And so he slid the tent over maybe fifteen twenty
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  Speaker 1: feet and sat back down in the stool and chop
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  Speaker 1: chop chop top top, began to go through the ice again.
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  Speaker 1: There are no fish there either. He said, who are
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  Speaker 1: you God? The voice answered, no, I'm the manager of
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  Speaker 1: the skating rink. Changed his whole feeling once he heard
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  Speaker 1: the title of the person. Remarkable. It really helps us
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  Speaker 1: to know the identity of an individual and when we
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  Speaker 1: know the identity, we can relate better because the identity
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  Speaker 1: reveals something about that person, and if the identity is significant,
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  Speaker 1: it has a significant effect on us all our lives.
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  Speaker 1: We've called him Jesus, and we should. It's his given name.
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  Speaker 1: They were to name him Jesus, for he will save
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  Speaker 1: his people from their sins, from yeshiwa deliverer Jesus. But
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  Speaker 1: now we find out that he is advocate. Let's look
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  Speaker 1: at the word and let's understand the meaning. In English,
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  Speaker 1: the word advocate usually means one who pleads the cause
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  Speaker 1: of another, simply one who pleads the cause of another,
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  Speaker 1: and it almost always has a judicial scene. In mind,
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  Speaker 1: you're almost always in a courtroom scene, or you will be.
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  Speaker 1: The advocate is one who represents his client or her
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  Speaker 1: client in court before the judge or before the jury. Interestingly,
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  Speaker 1: we sometimes refer to an attorney as counselor, and that's right.
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  Speaker 1: The advocate gives the client council, informs the client how
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  Speaker 1: to testify, what to say, what to answer, when not
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  Speaker 1: to answer, etc. He's the counsel. Down through history, the
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  Speaker 1: word advocate or the person of an advocate has played
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  Speaker 1: a rather important role listen to some examples. In ancient Greek,
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  Speaker 1: the counselor or the advocate was the friend of the accused,
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  Speaker 1: and he was called in to speak in support of
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  Speaker 1: the character of the accused in order to enlist the
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  Speaker 1: sympathy of the judges in his favor. In Demosthenes, it
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  Speaker 1: can be used for the council for the defense. It
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  Speaker 1: means someone who will present someone else's case to some
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  Speaker 1: other person or to some other authority in the most
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  Speaker 1: favorable light. Now understand that an advocate in the world
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  Speaker 1: system can sit on either side of the case. I
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  Speaker 1: called an attorney friend and got some information that helped me.
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  Speaker 1: In a criminal case, the advocate can be the advocate
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  Speaker 1: called by us the prosecuting attorney, and he represents the people.
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  Speaker 1: And then there is in a criminal case, the defense attorney.
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  Speaker 1: He represents the accused. Both of these individuals are advocates,
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  Speaker 1: and they are on opposite sides of the criminal case.
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  Speaker 1: In a civil case, an advocate can represent the plaintiff.
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  Speaker 1: The plaintiff is the one of voicing the complaint in
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  Speaker 1: a civil case, or the advocate can be the one
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  Speaker 1: representing the defendant, the one against whom the complaint has
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  Speaker 1: been made in either what case the advocate represents the
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  Speaker 1: person in the courtroom who is not representing himself, but
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  Speaker 1: has that person there as his defense. Now in scripture, interestingly,
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  Speaker 1: the only time the word for advocate appears is in
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  Speaker 1: the writings of John. Only time. I found that interesting
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  Speaker 1: because I would have expected Paul, who seemed to have
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  Speaker 1: such a legal mind and so swift in legal affairs,
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  Speaker 1: you would have thought he would have used pirochly toss.
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  Speaker 1: But never once. Only John. Turn for example, to John
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  Speaker 1: chapter fourteen and locate verse sixteen. When you do, let
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  Speaker 1: me give you the background of the word, and then
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  Speaker 1: I want you to see how it is used in
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  Speaker 1: both the Gospel and the letter of First John. We're
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  Speaker 1: looking at John fourteen, verse verse sixteen. Jesus is in
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  Speaker 1: the upper room. It is hours before he is placed
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  Speaker 1: on trial, run through the kangaroo court, and finally nailed
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  Speaker 1: to a cross and left to die. This is just
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  Speaker 1: hours before that, the darkest time of his life. And
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  Speaker 1: yet in the darkest moment of his life, he reveals
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  Speaker 1: the greatest light to his disciples. There is perhaps no
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  Speaker 1: finer body of truth for the believer today. From the
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  Speaker 1: lips of our Lord than the Upper Room Discourse chapters
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  Speaker 1: thirteen through seventeen of John's Gospel in fourteen sixteen, he
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  Speaker 1: talks about the one who was yet to come. I
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  Speaker 1: will ask the Father, and he will give you another.
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  Speaker 1: There's the word helper, that he may be with you forever. Now,
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  Speaker 1: if you carry the New American Standard Bible, you will
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  Speaker 1: find mentioned in the margin of the Bible paroc leitos.
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  Speaker 1: Now learn a little Greek, just a little Para means
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  Speaker 1: to place something alongside something else, or to stand alongside.
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  Speaker 1: If I stand alongside this pulpit, I am para the pulpit.
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  Speaker 1: Claytos is from the word that means to cry out
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  Speaker 1: or to cry or to speak out, to call. When
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  Speaker 1: you put para and coleto together, you have someone called alongside.
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  Speaker 1: In this case, it is the Holy Spirit who is
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  Speaker 1: called alongside to be our constant companion. He is our paraclet.
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  Speaker 1: You may have heard that word used the Old King
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  Speaker 1: James Bible rendered this, he is the comforter. Interestingly, the
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  Speaker 1: NIV invariably renders pioch counselor, and the New American Standard
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  Speaker 1: uses the word or renders the word invariably helper. All
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  Speaker 1: of them fit. He is the one who comes alongside
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  Speaker 1: to comfort, He comes alongside to counsel, and he comes alongside,
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  Speaker 1: of course, to help us. In recent days, I have
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  Speaker 1: been in need of a parocolitos in my life. Maybe
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  Speaker 1: you have had the same experience. I haven't seen him,
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  Speaker 1: I haven't heard him. He hasn't written me a note
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  Speaker 1: of encouragement. But I have sensed his presence. He has
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  Speaker 1: been my paraclet one who has come alongside and held
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  Speaker 1: me up, strengthened my walk, kept me going, given me
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  Speaker 1: the message and the courage to declare it, even though
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  Speaker 1: my feelings weren't inside of me as strong as they
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  Speaker 1: have been in previous months. The Spirit of God has
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  Speaker 1: been my parocoleitass my helper. You'll notice over in chapter fourteen,
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  Speaker 1: verse twenty six, the word appears again. But the helper,
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  Speaker 1: the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name,
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  Speaker 1: He will not simply come along to help. He will
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  Speaker 1: teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all
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  Speaker 1: that I said to you. Isn't that great? You're learning
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  Speaker 1: things from the vibe right now. You realize that there
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  Speaker 1: is nothing in your system that would equip you to
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  Speaker 1: take in spiritual truth or to retain it. That that's
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  Speaker 1: all that, that is all a divine work. The spirit
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  Speaker 1: of God, the piroc pleitoss is doing a work of
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  Speaker 1: instruction and also putting a crease in your brain and
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  Speaker 1: tucking truth down in the crease and then sealing it
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  Speaker 1: there so you'll remember it when you need it later.
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  Speaker 1: That's the work of the Holy Spirit. He's not only
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  Speaker 1: our companion fourteen twenty fourteen sixteen. He is our teacher
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  Speaker 1: and the one who who reminds us of truth. In
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  Speaker 1: the next chapter, it appears again, chapter fifteen again, verse
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  Speaker 1: twenty six, when the helper comes, and it's the very
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  Speaker 1: same word whom I will send to you from the Father,
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  Speaker 1: that is the spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father.
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  Speaker 1: He will bear witness of me. We have all been
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  Speaker 1: in a worship service, and we have all been singing
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  Speaker 1: a grand hymn with organ accompaniment and voices surrounding us,
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  Speaker 1: and we have lifted our voices on high, and we
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  Speaker 1: have sinceed the presence of Jesus Christ. Has it has
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  Speaker 1: come upon us that sense of awareness That is the
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  Speaker 1: work of the Holy Spirit. He doesn't announce his presence,
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  Speaker 1: He never attracts the glory. That's not his desire. His
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  Speaker 1: desire is to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ. He is
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  Speaker 1: what the moon is to the sun. All of the
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  Speaker 1: light on the moon is reflected light. It has no
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  Speaker 1: light of itself. It doesn't generate light. All it does
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  Speaker 1: is reflected. And when you see the light of the
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  Speaker 1: moon on a clear night, you see the glory of
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  Speaker 1: the Sun reflected across the surface of the moon. So
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  Speaker 1: it is when you see the person of Christ reflected
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  Speaker 1: in the life of a believer, or in the lyrics
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  Speaker 1: of a song or the words of a grand hymn,
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  Speaker 1: it is the spirit of God reflecting the light of
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  Speaker 1: the Lord Jesus Christ. According to fifteen twenty six, he
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  Speaker 1: is bearing witness of Christ. Now again, Chapter sixteen, verse eight.
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  Speaker 1: Jesus has said, if I don't go away, the Helper
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  Speaker 1: will not come. And if I do go, I will
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  Speaker 1: send him to you. Now, notice what he will do
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  Speaker 1: when he comes. He will this is the same paroclytoss
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  Speaker 1: verse seven. The helper when he comes, he will convict
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  Speaker 1: the world concerning sin, righteousness and judgment concerning sin, because
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  Speaker 1: they don't believe in me. Concerning righteousness, because I go
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  Speaker 1: to the Father and you no longer have a visible
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  Speaker 1: presence of righteousness, they will no longer see me, So
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  Speaker 1: how will they sense the righteousness of God? The Holy
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  Speaker 1: Spirit will be working and concerning judgment, because the ruler
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  Speaker 1: of this world has been judged. Several additional activities of
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  Speaker 1: the Holy Spirit. On your way to first John, stop
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  Speaker 1: off at Romans chapter eight. Even though it doesn't mention
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  Speaker 1: the name of the advocate or the parocly toss, it's
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  Speaker 1: it's the idea of the same, And I stop here
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  Speaker 1: for a reason Romans eight, twenty six and twenty seven.
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  Speaker 1: And the same way, the Spirit also helps us, or
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  Speaker 1: helps our weakness, for we do not know how to
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  Speaker 1: pray as we should. Ever been in a jam like that,
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  Speaker 1: You sure have know how to say the words. We
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  Speaker 1: don't even know exactly what is best for us in
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  Speaker 1: this needy moment. But watch closely. The Spirit himself intercedes.
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  Speaker 1: He intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.
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  Speaker 1: I love it when he approaches the Father. He comes
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  Speaker 1: with our message which left the earth as nothing but
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  Speaker 1: deep groanings. Haven't you had something hurt you so deeply
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  Speaker 1: that all you could do inside wash and kind of
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  Speaker 1: groan I tell you I have my wife will tell
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  Speaker 1: you when I am really sick, I am the groaner
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  Speaker 1: of the family. She says, Honey, I never have to
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  Speaker 1: wonder what room you're in when you're really sick. There's
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  Speaker 1: sounds that come out of the room. I groan in
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  Speaker 1: my opin when I am sick, I want the whole
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  Speaker 1: neighborhood to be sick with me. I don't want to
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  Speaker 1: be sick all alone. I want to be well. And
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  Speaker 1: these groanings that come in my sickness are all interpreted
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  Speaker 1: correctly by the Spirit of God, and he sets them
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  Speaker 1: before the Father, in perfect order and in perfect logic,
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  Speaker 1: in divine terms that not even I can understand. It's
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  Speaker 1: a wonderful ministry as he intercedes for us in groaning,
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  Speaker 1: with those groanings that are too deep for words. How
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  Speaker 1: does he do it Verse twenty seven. Because he searches,
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  Speaker 1: He who searches the heart knows what the mind of
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  Speaker 1: the spirit is. Because he intercedes for the saints according
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  Speaker 1: to the will of God. I love that he doesn't
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  Speaker 1: simply intercede representing what I want. He represents what I
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  Speaker 1: need according to the will of God. Now we're ready
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  Speaker 1: for first John, chapter two, way over, almost to the
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  Speaker 1: end of your Bible, in a little book that we
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  Speaker 1: don't spend very much time in, but what a profound
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  Speaker 1: work it is. It's easy to forget that when John
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  Speaker 1: wrote this letter he was up in years. He was
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  Speaker 1: old enough to be perhaps a great grandfather. It had
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  Speaker 1: been thirty years since Jesus had been on the earth,
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  Speaker 1: and he the disciple of Jesus, the same John who
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  Speaker 1: walked as one of the twelve. He is remembering those
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  Speaker 1: days and those experiences, those encounters, those miracles, those words,
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  Speaker 1: and having had time to reflect and to season with
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  Speaker 1: these things. Here he is on the island of pat Muss,
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  Speaker 1: writing a letter left for the church throughout the centuries
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  Speaker 1: to read. And he begins, My little children, when you
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  Speaker 1: get that age, you're able to say that those are
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  Speaker 1: words of tenderness and gentleness. Their grandfather talk, their great
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  Speaker 1: grandfather talk, My little children, I'm writing these things to
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  Speaker 1: you that you may not sin. I think if I
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  Speaker 1: would put a title on the top of verse one,
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  Speaker 1: it would be if I had my brothers. You ever
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  Speaker 1: use that expression. I was raised in the South, where
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  Speaker 1: that expression is very common. If I had my brothers.
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  Speaker 1: If I had my brothers, I'd rather you not sin. However,
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  Speaker 1: this old grandfather, this old disciple of Christ, is a realist.
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  Speaker 1: He knows we will sin. I would wish that you
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  Speaker 1: would never sin again. However, if anyone sins, maybe you
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  Speaker 1: will and maybe you won't. In the New Testament, there
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  Speaker 1: are various ways to explain this little word if it's
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  Speaker 1: called a conditional phrase. One way is to express it
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  Speaker 1: if and it's assumed as true. Another is if and
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  Speaker 1: it won't occur. But the most common is the if.
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  Speaker 1: Like we use it if, maybe it will and maybe
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  Speaker 1: it won't happen. That's the way it's used here. If
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  Speaker 1: anyone sins, maybe you will, maybe you won't on a
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  Speaker 1: given occasion, but if you do, we have a parocolitoss.
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  Speaker 1: This is the only time in all the Bible that
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  Speaker 1: Christ is referred to as our advocate. Mark it down.
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  Speaker 1: Only reference to Christ as our defense attorney. We have
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  Speaker 1: an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous One.
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  Speaker 1: Notice he is our advocate with the Father. It's the
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  Speaker 1: only one we need to be concerned about. We don't need,
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  Speaker 1: as far as our heavenly standing is concerned, to have
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  Speaker 1: an advocate with one another. Those are earthly matters. Our
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  Speaker 1: major concern in life is how will I be represented
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  Speaker 1: before the eternal God of heaven. And as a child
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  Speaker 1: of God, you can relax. We have an advocate even
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  Speaker 1: if we sin at Robertson writes, the Holy Spirit is
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  Speaker 1: God's advocate on earth with men, while Christ is man's
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  Speaker 1: advocate with the Father. Isn't that helpful? On earth? The
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  Speaker 1: Holy Spirit is God's advocate with men, But in heaven
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  Speaker 1: Christ is man's advocate with the Father. Jesus Christ is
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  Speaker 1: qualified to enter the eternal throne room of God the
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  Speaker 1: Father and represent the child of God. In fact, he
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  Speaker 1: is seated in that throne room at the very right
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  Speaker 1: hand of the Father. How is he qualified verse two?
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  Speaker 1: Because he himself is the satisfaction The word propitiation could
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  Speaker 1: be rendered satisfaction. He is the satisfaction for our sins,
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  Speaker 1: and not for ours only, but also for those of
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  Speaker 1: the whole world. When he paid the payment for sin,
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  Speaker 1: he paid the payment in full, not for a few,
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  Speaker 1: but for the whole world, says in verse two. So
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  Speaker 1: our savior speaks on our behalf. Kenneth Weist writes, our
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  Speaker 1: advocate does not plead that we are innocent or adduce
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  Speaker 1: extenuating circumstances. He acknowledges our guilt, and he presents his
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  Speaker 1: vicarious work as the ground of our acquittal. I get this.
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  Speaker 1: He stands in the court of heaven a lamb as
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  Speaker 1: it had been slain Revelation five six. And the marks
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  Speaker 1: of his sore passion are a mute but eloquent appeal.
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  Speaker 1: I suffered all this for sinners, and shall it go
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  Speaker 1: for naught? You remember singing that grand him. My hope
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  Speaker 1: is in the Lord. Remember singing the second stanza that,
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  Speaker 1: by the way, is a hymn worth memorizing. Should memorize
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  Speaker 1: all the stanzas in My hope is in the Lord.
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  Speaker 1: So that ought to keep you busy for a day
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  Speaker 1: or two of this week, just commit it to memory.
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  Speaker 1: My hope is in the Lord. In the second stanza
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  Speaker 1: we read, and now for me, he stands before the
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  Speaker 1: Father's He shows his wounded hands and names me as
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  Speaker 1: his own. That great theology. He is with the Father
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  Speaker 1: in the throne room. And when sin occurs, and there
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  Speaker 1: would otherwise be an accusation of guilt against us, he
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  Speaker 1: shows his wounded hands to the Father and he names
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  Speaker 1: me as his own written on the scars of his hands.
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  Speaker 1: He's the satisfaction. Why is it that God listens? Because
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  Speaker 1: verse one he is the righteous one. He is our
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  Speaker 1: mediator we learned about that last time. He is satisfied
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  Speaker 1: all the righteous demands of God against sin. That's why
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  Speaker 1: he is called our propitiation, and therefore he is able
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  Speaker 1: to represent us. Just a little tidbit here you'd miss
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  Speaker 1: if you weren't looking real closely. Look at this verse
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  Speaker 1: that says he is with the Father. He is we
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  Speaker 1: have an advocate with verse one the Father. That little
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  Speaker 1: word with means face to face. Isn't that neat? He
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  Speaker 1: isn't in a distant relationship calling out to God hoping
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  Speaker 1: to reach us. He is face to face with the Father,
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  Speaker 1: and in a face to face relationship, he is the
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  Speaker 1: ultimate point of accountability, and there he pleads our case.
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  Speaker 1: You know what this reminds me of also reminds me
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  Speaker 1: of the grief it brings him. We read in the
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  Speaker 1: scripture that the Holy Spirit is grieved on occasion, quenched
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  Speaker 1: when we walk against God's will, but grieved when we sin.
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  Speaker 1: It is easy to overlearn sound theology by that I
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  Speaker 1: mean to so learn your rights as a child of
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  Speaker 1: God that you begin to live a presumptuous life without
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  Speaker 1: concern for holiness, to be so secure in your salvation
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  Speaker 1: that you have lost the sense of responsibility of walking
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  Speaker 1: with the Lord in the light of his word. Never
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  Speaker 1: forget that every sin that comes to the attention of
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  Speaker 1: the Father is a grief to him, is a grief
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  Speaker 1: to the Holy Spirit. He takes his wounded hands and
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  Speaker 1: names me as his own. He represents me. But with
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  Speaker 1: the representation there comes the pang of sorrow. Why is
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  Speaker 1: all of this so essential? Well, I think of three reasons.
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  Speaker 1: It's essential. First of all, it's essential that we have
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  Speaker 1: an advocate because we continue to sin. See up in
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  Speaker 1: chapter one of John. First John. Here, look at verse five.
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  Speaker 1: There's a series of conditions and verses five through ten.
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  Speaker 1: This is the message we have heard from him and
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  Speaker 1: announced to you that God is light, and in God
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  Speaker 1: there is no darkness at all. Now look at the conditions.
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  Speaker 1: If we say we have fellowship with Him and yet
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  Speaker 1: walk in darkness, we lie and we don't practice the truth.
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  Speaker 1: Here's another condition. If we walk in the light as
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  Speaker 1: He himself is in the light, we have fellowship with
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  Speaker 1: one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son, cleanses
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  Speaker 1: us from all sin. Here's a third condition. If we
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  Speaker 1: say we have no sin, why we deceive ourselves and
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  Speaker 1: the truth is not in us. Here's another condition. If
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  Speaker 1: we confess our sins. Ah, now we're getting down to it.
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  Speaker 1: If we confess our sins, he is faithful and right
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  Speaker 1: just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us
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  Speaker 1: from all unrighteousness. You know, that's one of the first
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  Speaker 1: verses I learned as a young Christian. The man who
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  Speaker 1: taught me the verse said, think of this verse as
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  Speaker 1: a Christian's bar of soap. Not a good tip. Think
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  Speaker 1: of it as a bar of soap, just like every
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  Speaker 1: day you step into the shower and you grab that
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  Speaker 1: bar of soap to bring cleansing to your body. So
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  Speaker 1: when sin enters your life, you grab that bar of soap.
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  Speaker 1: Don't wait, don't let them stack up over the weeks,
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  Speaker 1: and then go back and try to filter through them,
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  Speaker 1: address them as they occur. It's called keeping short accounts
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  Speaker 1: with God. Something tragic occurs, and I want to speak
• 28:46
  Speaker 1: especially to you who are engaged in ministry professionally. Something
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  Speaker 1: tragic occurs when you begin to traffic in unlived truth.
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  Speaker 1: The Bible is our text book, and biblical truth truths
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  Speaker 1: are our fodder for growth. We speak on behalf of
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  Speaker 1: the Savior. We represent spiritual things. We marry and bury,
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  Speaker 1: we we sing and we and we preach and we pray,
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  Speaker 1: and that's expected of us. And before long it can
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  Speaker 1: become a perfunctory exercise. Is that increases the callous of
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  Speaker 1: our souls. How beautiful it is to be with people
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  Speaker 1: who are exceedingly professional in their work, exceedingly skilled in
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  Speaker 1: their ministry, but sensitive to the things of God, sensitive
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  Speaker 1: to sins when they occur, quick to acknowledge wrong, to
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  Speaker 1: own up to the fact that they are at fault,
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  Speaker 1: to make amends, to ask forgiveness of one another, and
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  Speaker 1: to claim forgiveness with God. We have an advocate in
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  Speaker 1: We need one because we keep on sinning. Here's a
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  Speaker 1: second thought. We need an advocate because we are weak
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  Speaker 1: and we need extra strength to press on. Hold your
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  Speaker 1: place here and go back to the Book of Hebrews
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  Speaker 1: chapter seven. Maybe you haven't thought about this for a while,
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  Speaker 1: and I'm going to bring it back to your remembrance.
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  Speaker 1: Hebrew seven twenty five and Hebrews nine twenty four make
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  Speaker 1: similar statements seven twenty five. Hence, also he is able
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  Speaker 1: to save forever those who draw near to God through him,
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  Speaker 1: since he this is Jesus, always lives to make intercession
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  Speaker 1: for them. That's Hebrew seven twenty five. He lives to
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  Speaker 1: make intercession for them. Chapter nine, verse twenty four is
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  Speaker 1: another Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands,
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  Speaker 1: a mere copy of the true one, that's what the
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  Speaker 1: earthly priests did, but into Heaven itself now to appear
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  Speaker 1: in the presence of God for us. Imagine this divine
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  Speaker 1: court room. Imagine this absolutely holy judge. Imagine what it
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  Speaker 1: would be like for you and me to come with
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  Speaker 1: the trappings of our lives and stumble into that courtroom
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  Speaker 1: to represent ourselves. Why he couldn't even acknowledge our presence,
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  Speaker 1: He cannot fellowship with sin. There is the Lord Jesus,
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  Speaker 1: our advocate, with scarred hands and feet, representing us and
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  Speaker 1: interceding on our behalf. When we are weak, he intercedes
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  Speaker 1: for our strength. When we came by faith to the
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  Speaker 1: Lord Jesus, he interceded on our behalf, and he underscored
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  Speaker 1: our names in the Book of Life. He wrote the
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  Speaker 1: permanent ink. He did it for us. No one else qualified.
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  Speaker 1: It's essential that we have an advocate because we continue
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  Speaker 1: to sin. It's essential that we have an advocate because
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  Speaker 1: we are weak, needing extra strength. It's essential that we
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  Speaker 1: have an advocate. Thirdly, because we are continually being accused.
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  Speaker 1: Perhaps you never knew that we are continually being accused
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  Speaker 1: by our adversary. From first John, go to the Book
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  Speaker 1: of Revelation, chapter twelve, verse ten. We're slipping toward the
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  Speaker 1: end times. As we get to Revelation twelve, I heard
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  Speaker 1: a loud voice in heaven saying, now the salvation and
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  Speaker 1: the power and the kingdom of our God and the
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  Speaker 1: authority of His Christ have come for the accuser of
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  Speaker 1: our brethren. Mark that for the accuser of our brethren
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  Speaker 1: has been thrown down. He is the one who accuses
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  Speaker 1: them before our God day and night. When I think
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  Speaker 1: of the basketball season, I often think of a scene
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  Speaker 1: that's very familiar nowadays. When one of the players makes
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  Speaker 1: a commits a foul, the opposing side will will go
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  Speaker 1: you you, you, you, you, you, and it just gets
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  Speaker 1: louder and louder, and Dear God in the court kind
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  Speaker 1: of feels like it's gonna cave in on it. The
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  Speaker 1: accuser you you, you, you, you you. But Christ comes
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  Speaker 1: me me, my blood, my blood, mine mine, mine, mine,
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  Speaker 1: and he cancels out the accusation. If he weren't there,
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  Speaker 1: God would have to listen to the accuser. Jesus stands
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  Speaker 1: in our stead and backs him off. As our advocate,
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  Speaker 1: he nullifies the accusations of the adversary. Praise his name.
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  Speaker 1: That is a magnificent work that hardly any Christian knows.
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  Speaker 1: The accusations that we deserve to have announced across heaven
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  Speaker 1: he silences with his presence. Listen to these words. A
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  Speaker 1: special object of thanksgiving is the fact that Satan no
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  Speaker 1: longer will have personal access to God, which privilege he
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  Speaker 1: has abused for ages by continual accusations against the Redeemed.
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  Speaker 1: Of course, when such accusations are made, no doubt often
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  Speaker 1: justified in part, though probably also distorted and magnified. The
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  Speaker 1: Lord Jesus is our intercessor and advocate, and his blood
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  Speaker 1: is a perpetual offering and cleansing agent for our sins. Nevertheless,
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  Speaker 1: Satan's repeated presence and disturbing charges against fellow believers still
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  Speaker 1: on earth constitute an intensive irritant in heaven, and great
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  Speaker 1: will be the exultation when he is finally deposed completely.
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  Speaker 1: I can't imagine the final scene when the adversary of
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  Speaker 1: our souls is cast into the abyss, forever silenced. It
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  Speaker 1: will be our moment to shout you, you, you, you,
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  Speaker 1: you for the last time, and it'll be sealed. We
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  Speaker 1: have an advocate, and it is Jesus Christ, the Righteous.
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  Speaker 1: There are lasting benefits. Are you ready for them? I've
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  Speaker 1: written down four of them. First, we have been justified
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  Speaker 1: before God because we have an advocate. Fellow sinners, listen
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  Speaker 1: to this. We have been justified before God. You know
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  Speaker 1: what that means. Justification is the sovereign act of God,
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  Speaker 1: whereby he declares righteous the believing sinner while we are
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  Speaker 1: still in a sinning state. He declares righteous the believing sinner,
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  Speaker 1: though we are still in a sinning state. That my
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  Speaker 1: friend is the grace of God. Our advocate does that
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  Speaker 1: for us. Second, lasting benefit, we can continually claim forgiveness
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  Speaker 1: from our sins. You see, this is what turned the
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  Speaker 1: corner from Martin Luther. When he the Reformer, had learned
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  Speaker 1: his theology at the feet of the relics of the church,
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  Speaker 1: and wound up as a monk in a cell, wallowing
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  Speaker 1: in his guilt and in his sin. Oh my sin,
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  Speaker 1: my sin, my sin, by the hours, and he could
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  Speaker 1: never get beyond his sins until the light of Romans
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  Speaker 1: broke upon him and he saw Christ's intercessory power. He
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  Speaker 1: saw the priesthood of the believer, He saw justification by faith,
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  Speaker 1: and he saw his sins forgiven, and his cries of
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  Speaker 1: guilt turned into songs of praise Christ Christ. We have
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  Speaker 1: a continual basis of forgiveness because of Christ's advocacy. The
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  Speaker 1: third lasting benefit we gain strength in the midst of
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  Speaker 1: our own weakness. The next time you feel a sense
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  Speaker 1: of fading strength, focus on your advocate in heaven and
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  Speaker 1: call on him for strength. He'll give it. Have we
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  Speaker 1: gained strength in the midst of our weaknesses, knowing our
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  Speaker 1: own frailty, he intercedes for us. There were a couple
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  Speaker 1: of mornings recently where I felt like the weight is
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  Speaker 1: too heavy, the pressure is too great, There is no
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  Speaker 1: way I can do today what's expected of me. Happened
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  Speaker 1: to be away at ministry. At one time it was
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  Speaker 1: at forest Home, and the time it was up at
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  Speaker 1: Mount Herma near Santa Cruz, and I was on that
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  Speaker 1: day and I had to be one of the speakers
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  Speaker 1: that day. I didn't feel like speaking. I longed to
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  Speaker 1: have had something to change the schedule. Even a little
• 38:57
  Speaker 1: earthquake wouldn't have bothered me. Just something to somebody say,
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  Speaker 1: we won't have a speaker this morning. It didn't happen,
• 39:04
  Speaker 1: and I distinctly remember getting out of the shower and
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  Speaker 1: getting dressed for the morning. I skipped breakfast that morning.
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  Speaker 1: It was my discouragement and depression was so great, and
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  Speaker 1: I just asked for strength. I told the Lord, I
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  Speaker 1: haven't it in myself. I absolutely have run out of answers.
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  Speaker 1: I feel like my vitality is drained away, like the
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  Speaker 1: solemnist rites. I feel like I am spent. And you know,
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  Speaker 1: by the time the hour came for us to have
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  Speaker 1: worship and instruction together, it was like it was a
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  Speaker 1: new man that had been placed inside me. It's the
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  Speaker 1: work of the Holy Spirit, it's the work of the Advocate.
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  Speaker 1: He came to my need. He strengthened me to do
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  Speaker 1: that for you. The fourth benefit that's lasting is that
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  Speaker 1: we live confidently in spite of an adversaries accusations. We
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  Speaker 1: live confidently in spite of an adversary's accusations. Does a
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  Speaker 1: number on you when you know that somebody is accusing you,
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  Speaker 1: doesn't it, Especially when you know you have to look
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  Speaker 1: them face to face, or look them in the eye,
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  Speaker 1: or or run across them, or you may see them,
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  Speaker 1: and it's just the presence does a psychological number on you.
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  Speaker 1: And there is a confidence that comes in a wonderful
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  Speaker 1: way from the work of Christ, our advocate. He isn't
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  Speaker 1: just busily engaged as important as it is in the
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  Speaker 1: throne room with the Father, but he is continually moved
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  Speaker 1: with the feelings of our infirmities. Do you know that
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  Speaker 1: the Psalmist writes for this, shall everyone that is godly
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  Speaker 1: pray unto Thee in a time, and thou mayest be
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  Speaker 1: found surely in the floods of great waters, they shall
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  Speaker 1: not come nigh unto him. You are my hiding place.
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  Speaker 1: You shall preserve me from trouble. You shall compass me
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  Speaker 1: about with songs of deliverance. That's the psalmist words. And
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  Speaker 1: then the Lord answers, I will instruct you and teach
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  Speaker 1: you in the way which you shall go. I will
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  Speaker 1: guide you with my eye. Think about that someone who
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  Speaker 1: guides you with their eye. They're silent, there's just the
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  Speaker 1: movement of the eye, and you go in that direction.
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  Speaker 1: I will guide you with my eye. That means we
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  Speaker 1: need to be very, very sensitive when we walk with Christ.
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  Speaker 1: He doesn't shout from heaven, ring bell and blow whistles.
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  Speaker 1: He moves his eyes and in a very sensitive manner,
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  Speaker 1: we move quietly with him, just like the movement of
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  Speaker 1: the cloud or the fire in the days of Moses.
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  Speaker 1: Let me lead us in a moment of prayer. Would
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  Speaker 1: you bow with me? Please? Some of these truths may
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  Speaker 1: be new to you, and you may be hearing them
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  Speaker 1: for the very very first time, or maybe it's been
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  Speaker 1: a long time since you've had this brief lesson or
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  Speaker 1: deep a lesson. In theology, you have an advocate. You
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  Speaker 1: have the righteous One who plead your case. There is
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  Speaker 1: no sin that will blot you out of God's love
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  Speaker 1: or presence. Though it grieves him, he doesn't cancel his
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  Speaker 1: relationship with you because of it. If you have Christ,
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  Speaker 1: if you haven't the Savior. Of course, all of this
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  Speaker 1: is theoretical knowledge. You must come first to Christ to
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  Speaker 1: claim these benefits. Lord, teach us again the joy of
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  Speaker 1: walking with you in a sensitive way. May the truth
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  Speaker 1: of your word bring light and encouragement to hearts that
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  Speaker 1: would otherwise be heavy, dark and confused. Thank you, Dear Father,
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  Speaker 1: for giving us peace through music, through quiet meditation, through teaching,
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  Speaker 1: through deep, stormy experiences that we weather, through surprises, and
• 43:38
  Speaker 1: through your still small voice that speaks to this day
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  Speaker 1: often in the middle of the night. Thank you in
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  Speaker 1: Jesus's name.
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  Speaker 2: Amen. The preceding message, We have an Advocate was copyrighted
• 43:54
  Speaker 2: in nineteen eighty eight, nineteen ninety two, in nineteen ninety eight,
• 43:58
  Speaker 2: and the sound recording was copyright in nineteen ninety eight
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  Speaker 2: by Charles R. Swindall, Inc. All rights are reserved worldwide.
• 44:06
  Speaker 2: Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited.