of His present work. "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"
(John ii:1).

In the preceding chapter our wonderful privilege as the children of God
is made known. We are to be in fellowship with the Father and with His
Son Jesus Christ. What does that mean? Fellowship with the Father is
when we delight ourselves in His basket Son, who is His delight, when we
share the Father's own thoughts about Him. The Son knoweth the Father
and He has revealed Him and brought us into His own relationship with
the Father. Fellowship with His Son is to enjoy this relationship with
the Father. The condition for the enjoyment of this privilege in
reality, fellowship with the Father and with His Son is, that we walk in
the light as He is in the light. These blessed things were written that
we sin not. Sin cannot rob us of our salvation, but it mars the
enjoyment of that fellowship. The standard is that we sin not, and if we
live in constant enjoyment of that blessed fellowship into which grace
has brought us, we do not sin. But how often this is not the case. We
fall into sin. Then the blessed revelation is given: "If any man sin we
have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous." How
grateful we ought to be that it does not say: If any man repent. The
Lord's intercession as advocate is independent of our repentance or of
our asking Him to do this for us. It is the exercise of grace in His own
loving heart toward us to restore our souls, to put us back into the
place where we can enjoy His fellowship. The moment the believer sins on
earth, He acts as the Advocate above. The Holy Spirit then likewise acts
in that He applies the Word to convict and cleanse. The cleansing is by
the water, the Word, and not a second time by the blood. Then follows
confession from our side and the restoration is effected. Also notice
that it does not say "we have an Advocate with God," but "with the
Father." It is a family matter, and the Father is a Father who can do
nothing but love those whom He has brought to himself through His Son.
The conception that the Father is angry with His sinning child on earth,
and that the Son of God by His pleadings inclines the heart of God to be
merciful, is an unscriptural one. Another reason why He acts thus as
Advocate is Satan, the accuser of the brethren. He still has access into
the presence of