You Need a Lawyer

 

 

 

“Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God … For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.”

Romans 3:19,23

Introduction:

  1. As we approach the Lord’s Table, let us carefully consider the Saviour and benefit of that Table.
  2. We have been studying Romans 3:21-31, which lends itself by 3:24-25 perfectly to this great subject.
  3. Justification is a legal or forensic facet of salvation, and we should consider it in terms of that field.

 

  1. You are guilty and condemned to die, as the texts above declare (Romans 3:19,23; 6:23).
  2. After your death comes Judgment Day, when you will appear in His court (Hebrews 9:27).
  3. You face much more punishment than just physical death; you face eternal torment in hell.
  4. There is a prosecuting attorney, who accused and charged relatives (Job 1:9; 2:4; Zech 3:1).
  5. But the greatest foe to your deliverance and freedom is the perfect justice of a holy Judge.
  6. You need a lawyer. You need a defense attorney – someone to change the Judge’s mind.
  7. You may have talked your way out of some punishments here; and you may not have; but you will not influence this Judge at all, for the books show you with thousands of crimes, each of which is sufficient in evil to kill the whole race and send all men to hell. See Adam.
  8. The proceedings of God’s court are impeccably just and according to law (Rom 2:6,11-12).
  9. Job begged for a lawyer to defend him to God as a man would his neighbor (Job 16:21).
  10. David knew that God had pleaded his case in righteousness against Nabal (I Sam 25:39).
  11. Jeremiah confessed and praised God for having pleaded his cause for salvation (Lam 3:58).
  12. You do not want, nor can you have, a trial by jury, for it would fail God’s just standards, as God would reject the convoluted thinking of your peers, and they would damn you anyway.
  13. Six hundred years before the cross, Isaiah prophesied of a coming Intercessor (Is 53:12).
  14. Though lawyer and attorney are not used for Jesus Christ, Counselor is found (Isaiah 9:6).
  15. Though lawyer and attorney are not used for Jesus Christ, Advocate is found (I John 2:2).
  16. Though lawyer and attorney are not used for Jesus Christ, Mediator is found (I Tim 2:5).
  17. Moses was a mediator (Gal 3:19-20), but he never won a case (Rom 3:20) … the Judge petrified him (Heb 12:21) … and he was guilty of contempt of court (Num 20:12).
  18. There is a Lawyer for your crime that has never rejected a criminal seeking Him (Jn 6:37).
  19. There is a Lawyer for your crime that guarantees not to lose one of His clients (Jn 6:38-39).
  20. This Lawyer knows the Judge well – as His only begotten and beloved Son (II Peter 1:17)!
  21. Your Lawyer’s knowledge of the Judge and His law shall justify many (Isaiah 53:11).
  22. Almighty God, the Judge of all, is the Father of Jesus and always hears Him (John 11:42).
  23. This Lawyer can relate to your crimes, for He was tempted by them (He 4:14-16; 2:17-18).
  24. The fine paid to redeem you from death was the Lawyer’s blood (Heb 9:14; I Pet 1:18-20).
  25. The Judge saw the travail of Jesus’ soul under His bruising and was satisfied (Is 53:10-11).
  26. Jesus, your Lawyer, offered Himself without spot to God … and was accepted (Heb 9:14).
  27. Because He was accepted, you have been made accepted in the Judge’s Beloved (Eph 1:6).
  28. The prosecuting attorney, the devil, who had the claim of the law against you for death, has been defeated and cast out of court (Col 2:13-15; Heb 2:14-15; I John 3:8; Rev 12:7-10).
  29. There is nothing to be laid to the charge of God’s elect by your Lawyer’s work (Rom 8:33).
  30. The Lawyer was placed under God’s law and perfectly fulfilled its every demand (Gal 4:4; Luke 2:21-27; Matt 3:15; 5:17).
  31. The result of this Lawyer’s work is to have all crimes expunged and blotted out (Col 2:14; Eph 2:15; Heb 10:12-14).
  32. The result of the Lawyer’s work is to apply perfect obedience to you (Ro 8:4; II Cor 5:21).
  33. So fine is the Lawyer’s work that the Judge finds you the object of great love (Eph 1:4), from which love you can never be separated, no matter what (Rom 8:38-39).
  34. So fine is the Lawyer’s work that the Judge chose to adopt you, rather than prosecute you, which makes the Judge your Abba Father (Gal 4:5; Eph 1:5; Rom 8:29; I John 3:1)!
  35. So fine is the Lawyer’s work that the Judge has rewritten His last will and testament with you as a joint-heir with the Lawyer, His only begotten and well beloved Son (Ro 8:15-17).
  36. The book of the everlasting covenant with your full redemption and inheritance could only be opened by your Lawyer, which John saw in a glorious court appearance (Rev 5:1-14).
  37. Your Lawyer has gone to heaven to make a constant appearance in court for you (He 9:24).
  38. Your Lawyer is on a retainer by God’s assignment and the reward of heaven (Act 2:34-36).
  39. What is your Lawyer’s assignment by the Judge? To bring you to God (I Peter 3:18).
  40. You now have free and open access to God by the work of your Lawyer (Heb 10:19-22).
  41. The intercessory work of your Lawyer is His perpetual calling (Rom 5:10; 8:34; Heb 7:25).
  42. You may commit your soul with full persuasion to this Lawyer without fear (II Tim 1:12), for He will not lose a single one of those He represents in court (Heb 2:13; John 17:2).
  43. The Arminian scheme of double jeopardy, that your Lawyer suffered the full penalty of the Law for all the sins of all men, yet the vast majority of men must suffer the full penalty of the Law all over again themselves, is patently and heretically false (Rev 21:8,27; Jn 8:21).
  44. Your Lawyer has declared that no man can come to the Father but by Him (John 14:6).
  45. But your Lawyer has also said no man can come to Him without the Father (John 6:44,65).
  46. How do you come to Him for His services? Believe on Him (John 6:28-29,40,47,68-69)!
  47. Everything we do, like the apostle Paul, is to be accepted of God through Christ (II Co 5:9), thus we are to run our race with patient zeal for the prize of His high calling (Phil 3:8-11).
  48. If you will add to your faith, your Lawyer will open heaven for you (II Pet 1:5-11).
  49. He has your name written down from the foundation of the world (Rev 13:8; 17:8; 20:15). Believe it!

Conclusion:

  1. Sing the song, “My Faith Has Found a Resting Place,” emphasizing no need for arguments or pleas.
  2. Sing the song, “Arise, My Soul, Arise,” and observe its numerous references to legal expressions.
  3. Sing the song, “And Can It Be,” emphasizing the legal boldness to approach the eternal throne.
  4. Sing the song, “Jesus, Thou Art the Sinner’s Friend.”
  5. Sing the song, “I Know Whom I Have Believed.”
  6. Sing the song, “I Will Arise and Go to Jesus.”
  7. Sing the song, “Jude 24-25.”
  8. As we take the Lord’s Supper, the Lawyer’s blood was sprinkled for the elect (He 12:24 cp I Pet 1:2).