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.
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