Message for THE LORD S DAY MORNING, October 9, 2011 Message 13 in Authentic Christianity Sermon Series (A Study of I John) Christian Hope Church of Christ, Plymouth, North Carolina by Reggie A. Braziel, Minister Authentic Christians Take Sin Seriously! Message 13 in Authentic Christianity Sermon Series Scripture Text: I John 5:16-21 This morning as we conclude our Authentic Christianity sermon series, I would like for you to please turn with me to I JOHN, chapter 5, and let s read VERSES 16-21. P R A Y E R Read: I John 5:16-21 ************************** I N T R O D U C T I O N Throughout our study of I JOHN we have seen John address a number of issues, some more than once. -He has talked a great deal about the RELATIONSHIP between our LOVE FOR GOD and our LOVE FOR ONE ANOTHER. -He has also given us STERN WARNINGS about false teachers and their false teachings. -And he has also talked a great deal about SIN. As JOHN brings this FIRST of his three New Testament letters to a close the Holy Spirit inspires him to write on the subject of SIN one final time. This tells us GOD takes SIN very, very SERIOUSLY! And every Authentic Christian should take sin very seriously too. Do you? Do you take sin SERIOUSLY?
- Do you take SERIOUSLY the supreme sacrifice GOD made to save you from your SINS? - Do you take SERIOUSLY the awful price Jesus Christ paid so you could be forgiven of your sins and have the gift of eternal life? - Do you take SERIOUSLY the dishonor you bring upon the Name of the Lord and the ugly black eye you give the Church when you engage in sinful habits? - Do you take SERIOUSLY the damage you do to your own Christian witness when you engage in SIN? - Do you take SERIOUSLY the fact that your choice to indulge in sinful living may turn someone away from Christ and cause them to lose their soul for all eternity? - Do you take SERIOUSLY the truth that sinful living can and often does lead to premature death? As we study these closing verses of I JOHN, I would like for us to examine FOUR WAYS we can demonstrate we take SIN very seriously. First of all. I. There Is Some Serious Praying to Do (v.16a) 1. It has been said, Christians are the only army in the world that shoots its own wounded. 2. When a brother or sister-in-christ falls into sin we judge them we criticize them.we ostracize them.we shun them..we condemn them..we give them the cold shoulder..we talk about them behind their back sometimes we even make them feel unwelcome in our Churches as though they are some sort of a second class Christian. BUT DO WE EVER SERIOUSLY PRAY FOR THAT BROTHER OR SISTER WHO SINNED?
3. John tells us that is what we re supposed to do. He says, If anyone SEES..not has a hunch or gut feeling a brother is sinning or.. suspects a brother is sinning.or. heard through the grapevine a brother is sinning But, if anyone SEES with his own eyes his brother commit a sin that does not lead to death, he should get on the phone and call the preacher so he can go straighten out the sinner..or call other Church members to tell them you won t believe what I just saw so and so do. NO! He should PRAY he should PRAY for that sinning brother or sister and God will give him life. 4. We must never, I repeat, never forget, that God s desire, His aim, His purpose for a Christian who falls into sin is to RESTORE LIFE to that brother or sister who has failed, not condemn them! And we need to understand GOD can use you and me in that restoration and healing process when we SERIOUSLY pray for that fallen brother or sister instead of treating them like a leper. 5. One way we as Christians can demonstrate we take SIN very, very seriously is by PRAYING FOR BROTHERS AND SISTERS WHO SIN. ******************************************************* But not only is THERE SOME SERIOUS PRAYING TO DO.. II. There Is A Serious Warning to Heed (vs. 16b-17)
1. WARNINGS are a fact of life. We see WARNING SIGNS on the highway. Meteorologists WARN us about dangerous thunderstorms or approaching hurricanes or tornadoes. TOBACCO companies are required by law to put WARNING labels on all tobacco products. PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES are required by law to WARN consumers of possible side-effects of taking a certain drug. WARNINGS are meant to protect us from potential harm or even death. 2. JOHN is issuing a SERIOUS WARNING to all Christians: WARNING: THERE IS A SIN THAT LEADS TO DEATH. 3. What is this sin that leads to death? Apparently John s readers knew what he meant, since he doesn t explain it, but we don t. 4. There are four main views as to what the sin that leads to death means. And I ll tell you in advance none of these views provides us with a conclusive answer. (A) One view is that the sin unto death is one of the seven deadly sins as taught in the Roman Catholic Church. According to Catholic teaching, the Seven Deadly or Mortal Sins are: PRIDE.ENVY.GLUTTONY..LUST.ANGER..GREED and SLOTH. Let me make it perfectly clear that no such list is found in the scriptures. This is purely a teaching of the Roman Catholic Church as well as other denominational churches. (B) Another view is that the sin unto death is blasphemy of the HOLY SPIRIT. Jesus warned the Pharisees about this sin in Matthew 12:31,32..
Jesus said, And so I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or the age to come. When you look at what the Pharisees had said just prior to Jesus issuing that warning, you get an idea of what blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is. The Pharisees had accused Jesus of casting out demons in the name of Beelzebub, which means Lord of the flies or Lord of dung. The name Beelzebub was a common synonym for Satan. The Pharisees were attributing the work of Christ to the power of Satan rather than the power of the Holy Spirit. To make such a charge is to blaspheme the Holy Spirit. Sometimes Christians wonder if they have committed the unpardonable sin. Let me remind you the Pharisees were unbelievers, and there is not a single verse of scripture that hints it is possible for a true believer in Christ to commit the unpardonable sin. (c) Another view is that the sin unto death is a particular SIN in one s life that brings such disgrace and dishonor to the LORD and His Church, it brings on physical DEATH. We read in Acts 5 where this actually happened to Ananias and Sapphira after they lied to the Holy Spirit about the money they had given to the Church. That very day they were both struck dead, and Acts 5:11 says, Great fear seized the whole Church and all who heard about these events! In I Corinthians 11:30, Paul mentions some who had died because they partook of the Lord s Supper in an unworthy manner on a regular basis. How does one partake of the Lord s Supper in an
unworthy manner? The verse just prior tells us, For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the LORD eats and drinks judgment on himself. I believe this is a warning every Christian should take very, very seriously. When we are partaking of the LORD S SUPPER it is not the time to be talking, laughing, passing notes, joking around, making out your grocery list, writing your offering check, or reading your bulletin. That is the time to be completely focused on the terrible price Christ paid to save your soul and mine. (d) A fourth view is that the sin unto death is APOSTASY or the complete falling away from the faith. Hebrews 6:4-6 says, It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, if they FALL AWAY to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting Him to public disgrace. Is this describing those who truly surrendered their lives to Jesus Christ then turned away from the faith somewhere down the road? Or is it describing someone who went through all the outward steps like making their confession of faith and being baptized and even going to Church regularly for awhile but they never fully surrendered their life to Christ? 5. While we may not be able to determine with any degree of certainty exactly what the sin that leads to death is, there are three things we can be pretty certain of. (a) One, it refers to a sin committed by a CHRISTIAN. v. 16 If anyone sees a BROTHER. (b) Two, we can be fairly certain the death is PHYSICAL, not spiritual.
(c) Three, we can be fairly certain it is NOT a single ACT of sin, but rather a STATE of SINFULNESS. 6. The late William Barclay explained it this way: The sin that leads to death means the sin which is going toward death, the sin whose end is death, the sin, which if continued in must finish in death. It is a persistent, deliberate, wide-open sin. The sin that leads to death is committed by the man or woman who has no regret for his sin, who brags about his sin, who is proud that he has gotten away with his sin, who takes great pleasure in his sin. 7. Regardless of what the sin that leads to death is, this is a warning every true child of God should take very, very seriously. If we are going to be SERIOUS ABOUT SIN, we must realize THERE IS SOME SERIOUS PRAYING TO DO THERE IS A SERIOUS WARNING TO HEED. Thirdly. III. There Is A Serious Truth to Acknowledge (vs. 18-20) 1. Actually there are TWO serious TRUTHS to acknowledge in these verses. TRUTH #1: If I am truly born of God, I will NOT CONTINUE to SIN. v.18 We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin. I explained the meaning of this earlier in the series so I won t belabor the point, other than to say this: An authentic Christian is not SINLESS, but rather SINS LESS. By the power of
God s Holy Spirit it is possible for us to reach a place in life where we are no longer a SLAVE to SIN as Paul says in Romans 6:11-18. Notice the wonderful promise of God s protection in the last part of verse 18... the one who was born of God keeps him safe, and the evil one cannot harm him. The devil may get in a few jabs and punches, but ultimately the true child of God is going to emerge victorious! TRUTH #2: The whole world is under the CONTROL of the EVIL ONE. (verse 19) This is a reminder that we live in a world that is very hostile toward our Christian faith. Satan knows he has lost you and me to Jesus Christ. But that doesn t mean he won t try to do everything he can to DISCOURAGE us and DESTROY our Christian WITNESS. How does he do that? By tempting us to do SINFUL things that dishonor Christ and His Church. If we are to be SERIOUS ABOUT SIN, we must realize -There Is Some Serious Praying To Do -There Is A Serious Warning To Heed -There Is A Serious Truth To Acknowledge And finally. IV. There Is A Serious Command to Obey (v. 21) 1. Wow, this seems like a very quick and abrupt end to the letter. Was John writing this real fast so he could get his letter to the courier for delivery? NO! 2. This verse may be short, but it is more than just closing words. It is a very SERIOUS COMMAND TO OBEY.
KEEP YOURSELVES FROM IDOLS! 3. Let s be honest here! We don t take idolatry very seriously. When we think of idols we think of those carved or engraved images heathens worship in false religions. 4. But John is reminding us, An idol is ANYTHING in our lives that competes with GOD. An idol is anything that squeezes God out of our lives. An idol is anything we devote more attention and affection to than we do God. An idol is anything we turn to as a source for happiness other than God. 5. Anything in your life or mine that bumps God to second place is an idol! Whether it is money, material possessions, recreational activities, hobbies, our job or even our family. 6. KEEP YOURSELVES FROM IDOLS! THAT IS A SERIOUS COMMAND TO OBEY! C O N C L U S I O N Once on his daily radio broadcast, the late PAUL HARVEY told the story of how and Eskimo kills a wolf. The account is grisly, yet it offers keen insight into the consuming, self-destructive nature of sin. First, the Eskimo coats his knife blade with animal blood and allows it to freeze. Then he adds another layer of blood, then another, then another until the knife blade is completely concealed by frozen blood. Then the hunter fixes his knife in the ground with the blade up. When the wolf follows his sensitive nose to the source of the scent, he licks it, tasting the fresh frozen blood. He begins to lick faster and more vigorously, lapping the blade until the razor sharp edge is exposed. Feverishly, the wolf continues to lick harder and harder throughout the arctic night. By that point the wolf s craving for the blood is so ravenous he doesn t even realize it is actually his OWN blood he is licking.
His carnivorous appetite craves more and more, until the dawn finds the wolf dead in the snow. What killed the wolf? It wasn t the knife. It was his own insatiable cravings. The scripture teaches us the nature of sin works in a similarly deadly fashion. James 1:14,15 But each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. Christian, are you licking the knife of sinfulness? Have you enjoyed the pleasures of sin so much you no longer feel the razor sharp edge of its deadly nature? Authentic Christian Take SIN Very, Very Seriously!