THE apostle here begins, as I conceive, another part of this most important, and interesting subject, which concerns all believers in Christ Jesus ; so as they may have the true knowledge how their minds may be fully relieved from guilt and distress, by faith in the blood of Christ, and proceed on in holy fellowship with the Father, and his Son Jesus Christ. To state this most exactly, none was so qualified as our apostle. He says all which was absolutely necessary on it. He says not too much of sin nor too little. He aims to remove the guilt of it from the mind in a right gospel way. His intent in so doing is to glorify the Lord-to exalt Christ-to do good to real saints-to shew them how they were to persevere in a holy walk, and thus proceed perfecting holiness in the fear of God. He knew this truth must at all times prevail with them, or they could not attain to a steady walk with God the Father, and his Son Jesus Christ, viz. they must receive this truth into their minds which he had before delivered unto them, that the blood of Jesus Christ was their everlasting purity : that they were washed in it : justified, and sanctified, and reconciled, and brought nigh unto God by it : that they were in the sight of God, everlastingly pure and clean from all sin. In the true knowledge and full belief of this, they were to have, and they hereby only could have free access to the Father, and be preserved from every evil which might lead them off from walking before the Lord unto all well pleasing. He had, in the three last verses of the former chapter, insisted on the inherency of sin in the saints. He prescribed a remedy for them, when at any time they were overcome by it. He declared if any of then were to say they had not sinned, this was to make God a liar: and here he proposes a most powerful cordial, to bear up their minds, in the worst case they could possibly be in. If they committed sin, it would be the worst thing which could befall them this side glory. He therefore says, My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. I have written as I have, to prevent your falling by sin : to prevent your falls into sin ; yet as no man liveth and sinneth not; I cannot suppose you will live so as never to sin. I know the guilt which will be brought into your minds thereby : and the grief it will be the occasion of introducing into your hearts. I know what accusations the devil will also bring in against you, when at any time you fall into sin. With these views of the subject I write unto you. My aim is to prevent your sinning: to keep you from it.: at the same time, well knowing the inward power and influence of sin, and your inability to stand one single moment, by any power of your own, and knowing also the Lord himself may leave you to your wills in the hour of temptation, as he did his beloved Peter ; I write to inform you, should any of you, who have fellowship with the Father, and his Son Jesus Christ, whose blood cleanseth its from all sin ; should any one of us sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous : And he is the propitiation for our sins : and not. for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. I have here put all these three verses together, because they belong to one and the same subject ; yet in my explaining them, I shall make a distinct sermon of each. My present text contains present and immediate relief, for the worst which can ever happen unto us. There is no evil in the world but sin : and it is in us : we all more or less fall by it. On the consideration of this, the apostle gives the information, that we have an advocate who pleads on our behalf. He had before declared that the blood of Christ cleanseth us from all sin. Thus he presented sin and Christ's blood together, declaring, how the one exceeds, transcends, and overcomes the other. So in our text, he brings sin and Christ close together the one as the disease, the other as the Physician ; so that the one hath no sooner given the wound, but the other is present to heal it. This most certainly is the outline of the text, which contains a variety of glorious particulars. Which I will endeavour to open and explain in the following method and order.

1. I will take notice of the words, by which the apostle addresses the saints to whom he writes, together with his end in writing unto them. My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not.

2. What he writes to them. It is concerning what very greatly interested them to know and believe. It was also concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. The adversary against whom Christ pleads is Satan. The clients for whom he pleads are saints. The Person before whom he pleads, and with whom he pleads, is the Father. It is in consequence of our sin committed, Christ pleads on our behalf. He does not plead on the behalf of sin ; nor does he plead for it. No. It is on the behalf of his people, when they are fallen by it. So that neither the words, nor doctrine of our text, contain the least encouragement for sin.

3. Christ is a righteous Advocate. Therefore his plea on the behalf of his sinning people, cannot but be successful. So that they need not despair. If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

4. How we receive the benefit of this into our minds. This is by the Holy Ghost : who is styled Advocate by our Lord .Jesus Christ himself, in these words, " But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you." John xiv. 26. The learned say the word Comforter in this verse, is Advocate, in the Greek. He, to relieve us from the suggestions of Satan, of the world, and our own sinful hearts, pleads the cause of Christ in our consciences, and enthrones Him there. He also "maketh intercession for us with groaning, which cannot be uttered." See Rom. viii. 26. May the Lord lead me, so to fill up these particulars, as may be for your profit. Amen. I am

1. To take notice of the words, by which the apostle addresses the saints to whom he writes : together with his end in writing to them. My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not.

The words of the address, put me in remembrance of what is by some said of our apostle : who, as he lived to be an hundred years old, so when he came to the Christian assemblies all he could say, was, little children love one another. I can scarcely believe, our Lord Jesus Christ would keep him out of' heaven to answer no other end by him than this amounts to. These words; my little children, seem to express that he had some particular interest in these persons. He might have been their Spiritual Father ; or, he might thus address them, out of the love of his heart, which he bore to all the saints. It is most, certainly a very winning way, by which he could not but draw out their hearts towards him and thereby make way for them to receive what he had to deliver unto them. I should conceive, this may be looked on as one reason for this address; and also for the title children: and little children. No one who has read with attention his gospel, and the 13, 14, 15, and 16, chapters of the same, but must see and perceive how he carries our Lord's Spirit, and sometimes expresses himself very nearly in the same language which our Lord did. As he addresses those to whom he wrote thus most affectionately, with the title my little children, so he informs them why he wrote to them as he did..  was that they might not sin. My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin, not. This was a most noble end. The things written were such as concerned personal fellowship with the Father, and his Son Jesus Christ. If they attended to this subject., they would most certainly be kept from sin. They would lose all relish for it, as they were favoured with soul-refreshing views of the everlasting love of the Father, and the glories of Christ's Person as God-Man, and his complete salvation. Whilst the minds of' saints are so engaged, all is well ; sin is subdued, and grace is quickened, revived, excited and strengthened. My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. Yet he knew they were liable to sin : Peter sinned ; yet Christ had warned him. He had prayed for him. If he sinned, it must be expected other saints would also. They could not be more exalted than he was. He had been pronounced blessed by Christ. He had seen Christ on the mount of transfiguration. He had been with Him at his holy supper. He had been with Him in the garden, and beheld Him in his passion and bloody-sweat. Yet all this did not prevent Peter's sinning against his Lord. Yea, he sinned grievously, even in the very hearing of Christ. If this was his case, what is there to prevent its being in the substance of it, the case with others of the Lord's beloved ? They cannot be more near and dear to Christ, nor can they be more and better beloved by him than Peter was. And as his fall was brought about by Satan, so the same adversary is always on the watch to swallow up, in the hour of temptation. Our apostle therefore writes to these little children to keep them from sin : to prevent from falling into sin: to put them on their guard against it: that they might be delivered from it. My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. I love you as mine own, I love you in the bowels of' my Lord. I write on purpose on the subjects set before you, out of real love to you. No other apostle hath any hand in my present writing. I write of, and from myself to you : yet not without the influence and direction of the Holy Ghost. I write these things which I have set before you, in the former part of this Epistle, that ye sin not. I proceed to consider,

2. What the apostle wrote to them. It is of that which very greatly concerned them, to know, and believe. It also concerned the Lord Jesus Christ. These things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. There is no heart can ever fully conceive the evil of sin : the bitterness saints have the experience of, when they sin against the Lord nor can any one so feel for them, and sympathize with them, as to suit their inward frames and feelings, when they are actually overcome with sin, and are fallen by it, but our Lord Jesus Christ. He can. He doth. Even though he is exalted at the right hand of the Majesty on high. Our text gives us full proof of it. If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. The apostle puts in himself, in the word we, as being as liable to sin, as the little children he wrote unto: and as having interest in the same Father, and also in the same advocate. Mr. Romaine was for reading the words thus. If any one of us, who have fellowship with the Father, and the Son, sin, we have an advocate with the Father. Most certain it is, this is the apostle's meaning. Every man that sinneth doth not belong to our Lord Jesus Christ : such as do not, will everlastingly perish in their sins. It is only those for whom Christ became their sacrifice, who have him for their advocate. And he is their advocate against their adversary, who is the devil. It is the devil who pleads against them. Christ pleads for them. He does this with the Father. It is in consequence of sin committed, Christ pleads on the behalf of his clients. We are they. He does not plead on the behalf of sin. No. Nor does he plead for it. Yet he pleads on the behalf of his sinning people : not to extenuate their crimes, be they what they may. He pleads on the behalf of his people, when they are fallen by their iniquity : so that neither the words, nor doctrine of our text, contain the least encouragement for sin. I thought good to express this, for the following reason-that so it is, we are prone to suspect the free grace of God: to think we may make too free with such a scripture as this : that to allow it possible for a real believer to commit sin, will have a dangerous tendency. Hence we are for avoiding such a passage as this. Or if it be taken as the foundation for a discourse, to say as little about sin, and sinning as possible. Beloved, we should aim to unfold our text or why do we take one. This, here before us, does not concern sinners, it belongs to saints : nor does it even suit them when they are in the mount of high and exalted fellowship with God. It suits them when the devil has broken in upon them : when sin has prevailed over them : when they have been actually overcome by their inherent corruptions, and cannot but cry out, we have sinned. I am not going to say, as the renowned Dr. Goodwin does, that the apostle by the term sin here, means some gross act of sinning: but whilst I am not going to particularize what is to be understood, and comprehended here by sin, yet I must so understand it, treat, and explain it, as comprehending every sinful case of the called people of the most high God. Let their sins be what they may, after they are called with an holy calling, we must understand the passage before us, as designed by the apostle, to be a grand catholicon for them all. Let their personal sins be what they may, none of them must be left out, unless we are unwilling to have a complete cure for all our spiritual maladies. It belongs to all the saints. It is thus directed unto them. My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous : " And he is the propitiation for our sins." This is the first place in the New Testament we have our Lord Jesus Christ presented unto us under this title : yet we have all included in it, and in his execution of this office, set forth in a vision Zechariah the Prophet saw, and records in the 3rd. chapter of his Prophecy. He says he saw in vision, "Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him. And the Lord said into Satan, The Lord rebuke thee, 0 Satan; even the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee : is not this a brand plucked out of the fire ?" v. 1, 2. Here is the substance of what is contained in our text. If the saints did not sin, they would not need Christ to be their advocate. When they have sinned, Satan their adversary immediately turns their accuser. He brings in his accusations, and pleads against them in the court of their own consciences. They fall under the same. They cannot but acknowledge themselves guilty. He pursues them, even when, and whilst they are at the throne of grace. They are self condemned, and confounded. Yet the Lord Jesus Christ who is interested in them, pleads against. Satan's charges, on their behalf : He pleads for them, as his clients, his own blood and righteousness, the everlasting and present efficacy of the same. The Person with whom he pleads is the Father. Even He who is, and stands in this relation to all his family in heaven and in earth, who are named in Christ, and are one with Him. Our Advocate pleads before him, in the high court above. If any man sin, we have an advocate, who is deeply concerned for us : who stands up on our behalf : who lives in the presence of God for us. It is our misery to sin. We feel the guilt of it in our minds, and experience unspeakable sorrow for it in our hearts. Yet this neither undoes what we have done: nor can it remove the guilt of the same from us. Our Lord is in our nature in the highest heavens. He is bone of our bone, and flesh of our flesh. He is not such as not to be touched with a feeling of our infirmities, but he is so affected with the same, as to be a merciful and faithful high priest. It is sin, yea, actual sin designed by the word infirmities : nor must we leave this out : if we do, we shall omit bringing in Christ, when, and where we most need him. Let us not go beyond the apostles : we shall do wrong so to do. If any man who belongs to the election of grace sin, we have an advocate with the Father. This is our consolation : and by it we have most blessed relief from the accusations of Satan, and our own consciences, when we are most sorely oppressed with actual falls into sin. I proceed to my next particular,

3. To shew that Christ is a righteous advocate. Therefore his plea on behalf of his sinning people, cannot but be successful. They therefore need not despair. If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

Our Lord Jesus Christ, hath a righteous plea to make, on the behalf of his sinning people, and that with his righteous Father, whilst he does not by any means excuse any part of their sin, or sinfulness. He is interested in the persons of his people, and in each and every one of their concerns. He has them in perpetual remembrance, and liveth after the power of an endless life, in his Father's presence on their behalf. His appearance in the presence of God for them, is their eternal perfection. As he bore their sins in his own body on the tree, and put them away by the sacrifice of himself, and washed them clean from all sin, in his most precious blood, so he presents then in his own Person, blood and righteousness, before the divine Majesty in the Person of the Father, without all sin. They are without all blame before the throne of God. In him they are complete : as such he beholds them : yet they having sin in them, and they sometimes falling by the same, hence to relieve their minds from the guilt thereof, Christ is set before them in the gospel as an Intercessor and Advocate, which I conceive to be one, and the same: only so expressed in a two-fold point of view to give the mind of real saints the more complete relief: especially in cases of sin : it is then we need the same views of Christ, and apprehensions of his blood and sacrifice as we were favoured with when we first believed. Yet the atonement of Christ being a past one, although it be everlastingly perfect and efficacious, yet we seem to want some renewal of the knowledge of the same to our minds, as may suit and be agreeable with our present cases and circumstances. Hence the advocacy of our Lord, is spoken of here, as our present and immediate remedy : it containing the same present health and cure, which was in the wounds and blood of Christ. As he died for us, when we were sinners, and ungodly, so He is an Advocate for us when we have sinned. And the true knowledge of this, is proposed by the apostle, to be our consolation and cure when we have sinned actually. My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. The expression, the Father, is a general and vastly expressive one. All the elect make but one family : a part of them are in the house eternal in the heavens ; and a part of them are here in this our world. Those in glory cannot sin : such as are here upon earth may yet they are all equally interested in the Father's love : they are equally and alike before Him, in his love and favour. Christ is their advocate with him, He is the friend of his people, in the execution of this his office. He is a righteous advocate. He is the Lord our righteousness. He is in heaven as such. He thus appears before the throne. And the Father beholds all the members of Christ, as made the righteousness of God in Him. It was his own act to make then so, by imputing the righteousness of Christ unto them. As they are thus in Christ, so he also pleads his own righteousness with the Father on his, as also on their behalf: whereby he has more to plead for them, than sin, or Satan can possibly have to plead against them. The Person of Christ, God-Man, exceeds in worth and excellency all his people, even though they are, and have been the objects of the Father's everlasting love and delight from before all time. His undertakings on their behalf, were before they had sin in then : thereby they were secured from the imputation of it. His being made in the fulness of time, sin and a curse for them, which was the act of the Father, must have a worth in the same, which transcends all sin, as inherent in the elect. The obedience, sufferings, blood and sacrifice, death, and soul-travail of Jesus Christ cannot but everlastingly exceed all the guilt, evil, and demerit of sin : all which, this great Advocate hath to plead, on the behalf of his sinning people : which cannot but invalidate all charges of sin, and sinfulness, which may be brought against them, by Satan their adversary and accuser. The saints therefore of the Most High, should consider this, so as to take the benefit of the same, and plead it on their own behalf. It is the will of the Holy Ghost they should do so : or it had never been written thus. If any man sin., we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. Whilst I am on this subject, I would say, I do not conceive the Intercession and Advocacy of our Lord Jesus Christ, in the Holiest even in heaven itself, to be a vocal one. It is enough, and all sufficient that he lives and appears in the presence of God for us. This is of itself, in its own nature and efficacy, equal to whatsoever may be included in such expressions as these. " For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life." Rom. v. 10: "Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth ? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us ?" Rom. viii." 33, 34. Christ became incarnate, and lived, and spent his whole life for us in this our world. He put away, and purged our sins by the sacrifice of Himself. He lay in his body in the grave for us. He rose from thence for our justification. He entered Heaven as our forerunner. He sat down on the right hand of God: which was an everlasting proof of his acceptance of the Father. He there lives to represent us. And his appearance there is a solemn memorial of what he completed on earth : the blessings and benefits of which, he wills the Father should bestow on his church militant in this our world. His office of Priesthood in heaven, is represented unto us, as consisting of two parts : Intercession and Advocacy : the whole of which is set before us, by Christ himself, in the 17th chapter of John. And most wonderful it is to consider, we have the whole life of Christ in glory, as we have his whole life in our nature and world, to carry us above and beyond, all our sins, and miseries. We sin against Christ, now He is in Heaven, yet he is our Advocate there. If any man sin, we have an Advocate with the rather. Our Lord himself says, "The Father himself loveth you." And, " as the Father have loved me, so have I loved you." And he says to the divine Father, " Thou hast loved them, as thou hast loved me." See John xvi. 27. chap. xv. 9. chap. xvii. 23. God loved us in Christ. He sees us as so many jewels, presented before Him in the Person, and shining forth in the heart of Christ. God's love and Christ's intercession are commensurate. In the death of Christ we are acquitted : In the resurrection of Christ we have an irrevocable act of justification in the high court of Heaven, that Christ was then justified, and we were then justified in Him. Christ at his ascension took possession of Heaven for us. He is seated at God's right hand with all power in heaven, and earth, to bestow and continue eternal life, with all the blessings of the same to his beloved ones. And in his Intercession and Advocacy we are completely and everlastingly secure. Believers in Jesus, look over the words of our text, over and over. It contains an infinite fountain of grace : such as we all need : especially when we have sinned. Consider the Advocate, who he is, and what he is. It is the Son of God. Even he whose blood cleanseth us from all sin. Remember with whom he intercedes! He is an advocate with the Father.

If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father. The interest of the Father in Christ, and Christ's relation to the Father must have a mighty influence here. The expression with the Father, is indefinite, to express as fully and comprehensively as possible the prevailing efficacy of Christ's advocacy. Then the justice of Christ's plea on the behalf of his clients is noticed. He is Jesus Christ the righteous. His titles afford inexpressible sweetness. Jesus is a name of the utmost importance to us. He is the Self-Existent, the All-sufficient, the Almighty Saviour: who by virtue of his office, He being, and living a Priest for ever and having an unchangeable Priesthood, '' is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them." He is also a righteous intercessor and advocate.---He is Jesus Christ the righteous. His pleas are all righteous ones. He lays in no claims, but he has a most just right unto. He pleads on our behalf, with his Father, and our Father ; with his God, and our God, He is well acquainted with whom he pleads, and with those for whom he pleads ; and for what he pleads, and against whom he pleads. He never lost one single cause yet: so that we may with safety put our every case into his hand, and trust it wholly to him and with him. I come now to consider,

4. How we receive the benefit of what hath been treated of, concerning our Lord's advocacy, into our minds. This is by the Holy Ghost, who is styled Advocate by our Lord himself, in these words, -But the Comforter," (the learned say, the word is Advocate), '' which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you."

It is in our own minds we are oppressed. That which most sorely afflicts us is our personal sin, and guilt. We have fallen so and so, through the deceit of our hearts, and the malice of the devil. He follows us with accusations. He suggests them, and he brings them against us, and charges them on us, in the court of our own consciences. So he also does before God, when we fly to his throne of grace, to supplicate for mercy. He will suggest the remembrance of our sins to us. He will convey such thoughts of our own sinfulness unto us, as shall serve to swallow up. If he possibly can, he will swallow us up in despair. The Holy Ghost., who dwelleth in the saints, is pleased to put forth, beyond the perception and apprehension of them, his indwelling power and grace. And when their cases are vastly extreme, and their souls bowed down within them, He is pleased to act for them, and within them, and on their behalf, the part of an Advocate and Intercessor. He pleads Christ's cause in the court of their afflicted minds. He takes of the things of Christ, and shews the same unto them. He brings to their remembrance what Christ is to them : what he had done for them ; how he stands in union unto them : the offices he sustains on their behalf. He creates fresh conceptions of the same in their renewed minds. He pleads the cause of Christ there. He brings the blood and righteousness of Christ to their remembrance. He shews them afresh the eternal worth, and everlasting virtue of it. He creates in their mind some most blessed apprehensions of Christ being in heaven, with all the worth of his one offering, appearing in the presence of God for them-that he is their Intercessor and Advocate-that he is most deeply interested in the cases of his people, especially every thing concerning sin. He then opens this Scripture, as it belongs to them, If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. Thus it is, we are led to receive the knowledge, and benefit of Christ's intercession and advocacy into our minds; so as to enjoy the same, and be relieved thereby, and gain a triumph over sin, condemnation, and the oppression of the enemy. As the Holy Ghost dwells in us, so he works every good motion in us. When we are most deeply surrounded within and without, by views of our exceeding, sinfulness, and we cannot open our mouths in prayer, He is pleased " to make intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God." See Rom. viii. 26, 27 : all which is the fruit of everlasting love : a glorious part of the everlasting covenant: all echo to the Intercession and Advocacy of Christ in heaven. And it is hereby we partake and enjoy in our own souls, the blessings flowing' from the same, and have fellowship with Christ in his intercession and advocacy, and with the Father, before whom he appears, and with whom he pleads. Christ is our advocate in heaven to maintain and plead our cause there ; so as no one charge can ever there be admitted of against us. It is only in the court of our own consciences, we can have any charge and condemnation. The Holy Ghost is our Advocate on earth. He performs this office within us. He effects it by pleading the Person, righteousness and sacrifice of Jesus Christ our Lord. And he so prevails as to stop the clamours of conscience, and produces the peace of God there : and he casts out the accusations of the devil. He maketh intercession in the saints, according to the will of God, which they express in prayer, with groanings which cannot be uttered. May we have a more increasing spiritual and scriptural light and knowledge of these truths in our own souls than we have yet attained. Amen.