• We are not worthy to enter in.
• God is only for people who see themselves
as moral failures.
• Only people who see that they are not
worthy to go in, that they need someone to
go in for them. If you don’t see that .. if you
don’t see yourself as so sinful that you don’t
have the right to just go to God and speak
to Him you haven’t gotten the first point …
You are not able to experience intimacy
with the Father.
• If we say we have no sin, we deceive
ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If
we confess our sins, he is faithful and
just to forgive us our sins and to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If
we say we have not sinned, we make
him a liar, and his word is not in us. (1
John 1:8-10 ESV)
• Charles Spurgeon says, “Look at an acorn. What do
you see in the acorn? When you look into an acorn
you will see an ocean of wood. He says, first of all
inside the acorn is a tree, a huge tree. And every
single bit of that tree is in that acorn all scrunched
up. In other words, there is not one thing on this
huge tree that is going to come out of the acorn that
is not in that substance. It's in there. Not only that,
but on the tree that is in there are thousands of
other acorns. And each acorn is another tree which
means that inside that acorn is not only another tree
but one thousand other trees and each one of them
is a thousand other trees. One acorn has the power
to cover the entire world with an ocean of wood.
• "I just don’t see myself that wicked or evil. I don’t
see myself capable of murder and extortion. I
don’t see myself capable of any of those things.”
• The great hymn writer John Newton once said in
a letter, “You never learn you are a sinner by
being told. You only ever learn that you are a
sinner by being shown.”
• Pascal says [and he was no stupid person]
“Certainly nothing offends us so rudely as this
doctrine of original sin yet without this mystery,
the most incomprehensible of all, we are
incomprehensible to ourselves.”
• We have an advocate.
• An advocate is someone who has an official
relationship with you so that whatever the advocate
achieves, you achieve, and whatever the advocate
loses, you lose. An advocate is a legal proxy. An
advocate is a legal representative. In
philosophical/theological language an advocate is a
federal head, from the Latin word foedus meaning
covenant. It means you have entered into a
relationship with this person so that this person
represents you so that what that person does is
transferred to you
• OUR CHAMPION
In the old days they even had a word for this in
the ancient Greek, an Archegos. And the
champion would stand forth and would
represent the army and the country and would
battle against the champion of the other
country/army. Of course the agreement is that
when you did that it meant that if your
champion was skillful you were skillful, if your
champion was foolish you were foolish, if your
champion had victory you were treated as if you
were the victors. If your champion was defeated
you were treated as if you were defeated
OUR LEGAL PROXY OR LAWYER
• And in that case the lawyer stands in and
represents the client so that what the lawyer
achieves the client achieves and what the lawyer
loses, the client loses. Charles Hodge:
• “The relationship of Christ to his people is that of a legal
advocate to a client. The former personates the later. The
lawyer stands in the clients place. It is, while it lasts, the
most intimate of relationships. You may not even have to
appear in court. You are not heard. You are not regarded.
You are lost in your advocate who for the time being is
your representative. The advocate, not you, is seen. The
advocate, not you, is heard. The advocate, not you, is
regarded.”
What does he do? He’s speaking on your side
It doesn’t say the advocate is standing there as
Jesus Christ the merciful. It also doesn’t say
Jesus Christ the persuasive. It says, “Jesus
Christ the righteous one.” You see, a really
good lawyer doesn’t just play on the emotions
of the court. A good lawyer has a case.
“Father it would be unjust for you to take two
payments for this sin. I have already paid for
it. Therefore Father I do not ask for mercy. I
demand justice.”
• The law of God not on the other side against us.
• The law and justice of God completely for us.
• This is far more than forgiveness.
– Jesus Christ not only gives us forgiveness for our sins
but has accomplished righteousness for us.
– He is not just the one who pays our penalty but is our
advocate.
• He is the one who stands in for us. He is the
archegos. It says that in Hebrews. He is our
champion, He is the “author and finisher of our
faith.” And you know what that word is “author” –
archegos. That is in Hebrews 12:2. He is the one
who accomplishes it for us.
The End of the Guilt Voice
• “But I have done something wrong…” But you see God
has not just given you forgiveness. The reason you can’t
deal with your guilt is that you believe God is simply
merciful.
• He is very merciful. It was mercy that brought forth the
whole idea of Jesus dying on the cross and standing in for
us.
• You must understand that not only does the mercy of
God allow that He love and accept you and shower you
with blessings and treat you as if you were His son, but it
is His justice that demands it
Dealing with Disappointment and the Loss of
Hope
The story of Stephen in Acts 6 and 7
• The opening of heaven
• Jesus the Advocate standing
• The Father loving Stephen
• Stephen radiant like Moses
– Rejection on earth, welcome in heaven
– Heretic and traitor on earth, beloved son in heaven
– Executed as a criminal on earth, honored as a martyr
for all eternity in heaven.