1 John 5:16-21 – John’s Final Words – June 8, 2008

This is my second last message from the book of 1 John, thank you for your patience and attention during this series.  What to we do when a person is known to be sinning and how we must be in the restoration process.

If anyone sees his brother commit a sin that does not lead to death, he should pray and God will give him life.  I refer to those who sin does not lead to death.  There is a sin that does not lead to death, I am not saying that he should pray about that.  All wrongdoing is sin and here is a sin that does not lead to death.

1.  John is now closing his letter.  He has addressed wrong teaching, how to love, what

     Overcomes fear, how to defeat the devil, the divinity and humanity of Christ and so

     Many other subjects.  He has kept it simple, succinct and short.

a. The first thing he deals with is what to do with a fellow believer who is has sinned.

     John here talks about sins that lead to death and do not lead to death in these two

     Verses.  Scholars have wrestled with this question for centuries.  They have listed

     Discussed and categorized them.  I am not going to do that today.  I want to focus

     On John’s exhortation of what you should do when you come across someone caught

     In a sin.

b.  John says, we should pray for them.  The promise John gives her is that God Himself

     Will speak to them and give them life.  The Holy Spirit is a much better convincer of

     Sin than we are.  What we are doing is praying for divine intervention in their life

c.  James says in James 5:19-20,  “if a brother wanders from the truth, we are to try and

     Bring them back.  This will save them from death and a multitude of sins.” 

d.  Paul writes in Gal 6:1, that if anyone is caught in a sin or fault, they should be restored

     Gently by spiritual people.  The only warning Paul gives is to be wise and careful so

     You will be not tempted.  Either by their sin or sympathize to excuse what they have

     Done by your compassion for them.  In Gal 6:2, Paul says when we carry the burdens

     Of others we are fulfilling the law of Christ, which is to love our neighbour as

     Ourselves.

e.  John speaks of sin that leads to death and those that do not .  James in James 4:17, says

    That when we know what to do is right and we do no do it, it is sin.  That is pretty clear.

    The underlying principle is that when someone sins our main responsibility as

     Believers is not exposing and humiliating them but restoration, love, forgiveness and

     Help.  I have discovered in my ministry that people caught in sin are already beating

     Them selves up enough without me making it worse. 

f.  Remember each person needs security.  We must help them know God is their

    Security.  God provides forgiveness and love.  Each person needs personal worth, we

    Must let them know we have no rejected them but love them in Christ and still believe

    In God’s ability to restore and rebuild their lives.  Lastly each person needs

    Significance.  Remember sin has hurt them, blinded them and the devil has exploited

    Them.  So you need to be there to help them see this is not the end but a chance for a

    New beginning and stronger relationship in the Lord. 

2.  I want to remind you on how Jesus saw people.  He did not see Mary Magalene as  

     Fallen but as a trophy of grace.  She became part of the early church.  She was at the

     Garden tomb the morning Jesus rose.  She was one of the first that saw Jesus in his

     Resurrected form.

a.  Jesus went and singled out Zaccheus the tax collector in Jericho.  He went to his house

    Had a meal and Zaccheus made a promise to pay back anyone he cheated 4 fold.  Don’t

    You wish Revenue Canada would do that.

b.  The woman caught in the act of adultery.  Jesus did not condemn when others wanted

     To stone her.  He didn’t condone what she did either.  He said,” Neither do I condemn

     You sin no more.

c.   Jesus revealed true worship and the nature and essence of God to a Samaritan woman

     Who had five husbands and the man she was living with was not her husband.  His

     Acceptance allowed her to tell others and he ministered in Samaria and she was

     Restored.  This visit would be a foundation for the Samaritan revival that would

     Happen under Phillip 8 years later.  I believe that woman was there at the beginning.

d.  Jesus’ reaction when the fallen woman came to anoint him with expensive oil and

     Wipe his fight with her hair and tears.  When she was criticized he rebuke those who

     Did and said what she did would be written about and known for all time and it has.

e.  Jesus prayed for Peter and when he denied the Lord, Jesus restored him and he was

    Was a pillar of the early church.  Talk about Mike Warnke and the guy in his boot

    Camp room.

3.  John I have learned from my study of him was all about restoration, love acceptance

     And forgiveness.  Some people have accused me of being to liberal, to open, to loving

     On this issue.  I would rather error on the side of grace then be found on the side of

     Law and condemnation.  I know I have needed it from time to time. 

a.  This was a decision that Lois and I took when we started in the ministry 30 years ago.

     There was a book called, Love acceptance and forgiveness by Jerry Cook.  It became

     Our life course.  It has not been easy but it has had many rewards. 

b.  We have seen many lives restored in the process.  There have of course but failures   

     But the successes have outweighed the failures many times over.

c.  We must help others to see, that life is more than just being happy but to please God.

     That freedom comes in offering ones life as a sacrifice to God and being of service to

      Others.  John here was trying to get his audience to understand that we must help

      Others to be free to better worship and serve God. 

d.  One of the prevalent themes of this book was love for one another.  In 1 Jn 1:9, John

     Wanted us to know we can be forgiven of any sin and that God has already accepted

      Us and approves of us. 

e.   John as well through this book wanted his readers to know that they were perfect in

     the sight of God through Jesus.  So in return we would want to live a life that pleases

     Him.

f.  The theme here in these two verses is how to deal with a sinful brother.  Number 7 of

     the 8 themes of the last chapter.

g.  When I was studying these verses I saw where sin had been defined.  But I felt that

     God wanted us to go this direction.  He wants us to know that our basic needs of

     Security, significance and personal worth can be met through Him.  Without Him the

     Highest need will never be meet, this will lead to seeking power and pleasure.  Lastly

     He wants us to know that all long term goals and plans will fail without Him.  Without

     Him man will be violent, arrogant and immoral.  We as the church have the greatest

     Message of love and restoration.  John was its greatest promoter.  Let us in turn follow

     His example and restore.