We Have A Lawyer Series

Two men were looking at the epitaph on a tombstone which

read, "Here lies an honest man and a good lawyer." One looked at

the other and said, "I wonder why they put two men in the same

grave?" Lawyers have not gained the best reputation for being

honest men. One doctor asked another how his lawyer patient was

doing, and he replied, "Not well, he is lying at deaths door." "Well,

that's a lawyer for you, "responded the other, " At deaths door and

still lying." It is reported that a lawyer should be a good sleeper

since he can easily lie on either side.

The very nature of the profession leads one to be tempted to bend

the truth by manipulating words. Thomas Jefferson referring to

congress said, "How can expedition be expected from a body which

we have saddled with an hundred lawyers, whose trade is talking."

When one does a great deal of talking and debating he learns how to

convey a message in such a way that you get the opposite impression

of what you would if you knew the truth. For example, a lawyer out

West did not want to admit that his first client was hung, so he

reported to his friends back East that he got him a suspended

sentence.

Like every profession, that of the lawyer is the object of many

slams and jokes, but in spite of them we know it is a necessary and

valuable profession. It is essential to our sense of justice that every

man have a right to defense, and that he have a defender skilled in

the law. Our Constitution guarantees this, and that is why even the

worst criminals are provided with a lawyer if they cannot obtain

one. It may bother us that known criminals, who are obviously

guilty, have such skilled defense that they often escape the penalty of

the law. But let us not forget that everyone of us who have received

Christ as Savior are in that same boat. We are guilty of breaking

God's law, yet, because of our adequate advocate and divine

defender we gain a pardon and escape punishment.

The difference of course is infinite in quality, for an earthly

lawyer by immoral and unethical means, or through weaknesses of

the law, gets his client off, but as we shall see, Jesus fulfills the

demands of justice in gaining our pardon. The fact that Jesus is our

advocate raises this profession to the highest possible level. Jesus

was a carpenter for a few years on earth, but ever since His

ascension He has been the believers lawyer in the court of heaven,

and He will remain in that ministry until He comes again and takes

the throne of judgment. This means that all who do not have Jesus

as their defense attorney now will have Him as their judge when He

comes again. This shows that Christ's present ministry is

exceedingly important for every person to consider, and our purpose

in this message is to gain a better understanding of His present

ministry by examining the three factors of it brought out in John's

statement: "We have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the

righteous."

I. HIS CLIENTS.

A big burly man called at the house of a woman known for her

charitable impulses, and when she came to the door he addressed

her in a broken voice, "Madam, I wish to draw your attention to the

terrible plight of a poor family in this district. The father has been

fired; the mother is too ill to work, and the nine children are

starving. They are about to be turned out into the cold streets unless

someone pays their arrears in rent which amounts to fifty dollars."

The woman exclaimed, "How terrible! May I ask who you are?"

The sympathetic pleader applied his handkerchief to his eyes as he

said, "I am the landlord." Here is a case where the advocate

obviously had only one client, and that was himself. His pleading

was not for there need, but for his greed. But we have in Jesus and

Advocate who is ours-literally ours, in that His purpose in the court

of heaven is not for His own defense, but for our pardon.

John says, "We have Him." That is, He is always available, and

is never too busy, or tied up on another case, or on vacation.

Hebrews tells us the same thing by saying, "He ever lives to make

intercession for us." In earthly courts there are cases backed up for

months and years, but we who are clients of the eternal Advocate

have immediate defense when we sin. It is tragic when Christians let

their sin go unconfessed and suffer needless pain and guilt when