[0:00] All right, well, we're going to go with what we got here, so let's find in our Bibles 1 John chapter, oh, where should we start tonight?
[0:19] 1 John, let's, well, let's just be in chapter 1 to begin. 1 John, we've been spending some time on Wednesday nights in this epistle that John writes, and it's little, but it's loaded, and it was never my intention to go very far with this, just got into it, and I love it, it's a great read, it's a great book, but some things were coming out of it, and it started with the three things that I scribbled down and studied out, and then turned into a fourth, and then as I sat down Monday morning and began to visit this, and I just thought, I better get this worked on today, because Tuesday and Wednesday is going to come and probably be a little bit hectic, and sure enough, as I got it, I thought, I know what I'm doing, I got the fourth final point, and I already know where I'm going with it, so as I sat down in the book and started looking it over and was kind of reviewing some of the first three, I just thought, there's more, there's something else here, and I thought to myself, I don't want to go that direction, though, it's kind of negative, I wanted to finish on something positive, Sunday was about David and Nathan, and thou art the man, and his sin, and I thought, I don't want to just keep beating that horse, I want to, but I just thought, it's there, and I've been preaching from 1 John, saying that John has some concerns for believers, and there's some things that he doesn't just mention, and I'm not just pulling a verse out and preaching a message, I'm showing you each time, what he's concerned about is all through this epistle, and it bears repeating that John is a very unique man, a very unique author, and a unique disciple of Jesus Christ, perhaps no one ever closer to the Lord Jesus
[2:16] Christ than John, and I think John had some insight, I think John had an intimate relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, and I think that it shows up in what he writes about, in the things he writes about, and so we saw week one that John's interested or concerned about your fellowship, and he talks about fellowship more than anybody else, and this first chapter states some things very clearly about that, thank you. The second week, we saw that John was concerned about your relationship with the truth, and your perception about the truth, and ran scripture on that back into his gospel, came back in here showing you that John talks more about the truth than any other Bible author, more than Matthew, Mark, Luke, not even close.
[3:03] John's concerned about the truth, and he's concerned about your take and your belief of the truth, and that you stand on the truth, and that you're not blinded by your own deceitful heart, but that you understand and know the truth, and it's a terrible thing to be deceived when the truth is right there in front of you and available for you, but you see it, and you don't think it's true, you don't think that's the way it is, you're happy and content to go your own direction, or the way your heart or your emotions lead you, and feel like that's what it is for me, but John cares, he's concerned about your relationship with the truth. Then the last week we got on this, we saw that John was concerned about your relationship with the brethren, and it's all over his epistle. He writes about loving the brethren, he writes about somebody professing to love their walk, to love the brethren, but walking in darkness, or hating his brother, rather he professes to be in the light, but he hates his brother, he says you're in darkness, you're deceived, and I even gave you an illustration last Wednesday night how the Lord taught me a lesson about that, where I felt like
[4:05] I'm doing the right thing with a relationship with somebody in the church, I felt like I'm putting up with you, I'm not being mean to you, even though I don't like you, and I'm sucking it up, and I'm being kind, and I'm being compassionate, and forgiving, or whatever the case, and then I came to find out from watching my own pastor at the time, the way he dealt with them, and I thought, wow, that's a whole other level, and it's completely humbling himself, be in front of somebody who's to be blamed, or to have, who has problems, and is full of pride, and is carnal, and still humbling himself, and loving him, and caring for him, and showing him a real Christ-like attitude, and God's concerned, John's concerned, about our relationship with the brethren, and that's something that's, again, all over this epistle, so now there's something else that pops out before we get to the end of this study, and this one just came up, it's all over the epistle, it's in all five chapters, and so by way of introduction to this next concern of John's, let's just read together, and what I want you to do, you know, this is an old Lutheran building, so we'll have a little responsive reading tonight, you guys okay with that? I'm not going to move the pulpit off to the side, we're not going to go that way, and sprinkle the babies, but we'll still, at least, what I'm going to do, is I'll guide you through the passage, but I'll pause at a specific word, and you just say the word out loud, and Sarah,
[5:42] I want to hear your voice, don't be chewing your nails, okay, here we go, 1 John chapter 1, and look at verse number 7, we'll begin reading verses 7 through 10, if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his son cleanseth us from all sin, there we go, verse 8, if we say that we have no, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us, if we confess our, he is faithful and just to forgive us our, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness, if we say that we have not, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us, well that's a lot of mentions of sin right there, in just a few verses, but that's not all, let's look into the next chapter, chapter 2, just the first two verses here, my little children, these things write I unto you that ye not, and if any man, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, and he is the propitiation for our, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world, verse number, what's the next one,
[6:58] I'm missing it, I'm staring, 12, I write unto you little children, because your, are forgiven you, for his name's sake, all right, now, you get the idea, I'm going to, we're going to keep reading, you don't have to keep calling out the words anymore, I'll just read right through, but look at chapter 3, let's cover all the passages, and then we'll come back and try to put this in some categories, chapter 3, verse 4 through 9, just follow along, whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law, for sin is the transgression of the law, and ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins, and in him is no sin, do you see how much this is showing up, twice in these two verses, twice, twice, verse number, what are we at, in him is no sin, verse 6, whosoever abideth in him sinneth not, whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him, little children, let no man deceive you, he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous, he that committeth sin is of the devil, for the devil sinneth from the beginning, for this purpose, the son of man was manifested, that he would destroy the works of the devil, chapter 4, verse 10, the only mention in this chapter, 4, verse 10, here in his love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins, finally chapter 5, verses 16 through 18, if any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death, there is a sin unto death, I do not say that he shall pray for it, all unrighteousness is sin, and there is a sin not unto death, we know that whosoever is born of God sin not, but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not, so, you know, all five chapters, I'd say John's concerned about sin, he writes about it in all five of these chapters, and this is one I was going to just overlook and just say, I don't want to talk about that again and again and again, but John does, he's concerned about sin, to give it like a statistic, John in these five chapters, 28 times he mentions the word, in one form or another, which is the most in this book of any Bible, or of the Bible per chapter, as far as the average mentions per chapter, in this case, over five, what, 5.6 times would that be, per chapter, the word sin shows up, no other book comes anywhere close to that, John writes more about sin than anybody else in that sense, now, John's concerned about sin, I can't deny it, I can't overlook it, and thank God somebody is, because the popular preachers of our day to day, they're not very concerned about your sin, not a bit, matter of fact, I have a quote here from one of the pretty popular guys around, he said this, Jesus didn't say preach against sin, Jesus said preach the gospel, wow, so you know what that means, he doesn't preach against sin, he decided, but you know what, their watered down gospel that these guys preach, it doesn't have sin in it, they don't mention your sin, they eliminate the mention of sin, I was even going door to door with a guy years ago, that we had to talk about it afterwards, because he was, I didn't know him that well, he kind of came in from somewhere else, and we ended up, I ended up being his partner, because nobody knew him, and so I did a few doors, and then he did the next door, and he's talking to somebody, and he goes through this three-verse gospel that was just boom, boom, boom, and you should be praying, and like, you know, 45 seconds in, he's trying to lead somebody into a prayer, and it was pathetic, because he never mentioned the name Jesus Christ one time, he never mentioned sin one time, all he mentioned was God, God,
[11:06] he's like, God loves you, God wants to save you, you can call on God, and that was the end of it, like, ready to pray, and so we had to deal with that, but that's, that's the problem, John mentioned sin, he's concerned about it, and what I want to do tonight is look at this in three ways through this epistle, as we read these verses, one first look I want to take is the positional look, or that is, John's concerned about your sin positionally, your position in Jesus Christ, he says some things here that we even just read, that is worth you getting a hold of, and understanding, and being grounded in, and knowing, and then secondly, then I want to look at the practical view of sin that John writes about, and that's going to be a little different, and I'll explain that as I go, and then finally a prophetical view, which I'll just throw in there, because it's in here, but let's get to the real business today with some doctrine here, and that is positionally, John concerned about your sin positionally, he makes some doctrinal declarations in this epistle about you, and about your sin, and he's, he's concerned that you know this, that you understand this, and that you believe it, look at chapter 2, and verse number 12, in John, first John 2, 12, he said, I write unto you little children, because your sins are forgiven you, for his name's sake, your sins are forgiven you, present tense, I can stand in Christ Jesus knowing that my sins are forgiven, and that's where I stand, now that's my position in
[12:48] Jesus Christ, what if I go sin today, what if I sin yesterday, what if I sin tomorrow, John says, your sins are forgiven you, now let's just make sure we understand this from more scripture, we never want to just build something off one statement, so come back to Colossians chapter 1, and see what the word of God says, John's concerned about sin, and several ways, one positionally, let's understand our position in Christ, and how sin affects that, if it does, Colossians, chapter number 1, and verse 14, is a reference to Christ, it ends in verse 13 by saying, his dear son, in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins, we have it, our sins, John says, they are forgiven you, we have forgiveness of sins, not because, not in church, but verse 14 said, in whom, in him, in Christ, we have redemption through his blood, and in him, in Christ, we have forgiveness of sins, this is doctrinal, this is something that John and Paul state, come back to Colossians chapter 2 now, Colossians chapter 2, and one verse, I'm not going to park on it, but know this verse 10 is so important, ye are complete in him, now that's saying an awful lot, and there's a lot of things we can come around in the Bible, and they can just come and point right back to Colossians 2, 10, there's so much doctrine that ends with that statement, or even starts with that statement, if you wanted to teach a doctrine, you're complete in him, and then you can go on and discuss justification, or sanctification, or right now, forgiveness of sins, now just know that, but let's go to verse 13, and you, being dead in your sins, and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses, in Christ,
[15:19] I am quickened, or made alive, and it is with him, and my trespasses, how many of them? You decide if you're going to believe that, having forgiven you all trespasses, it's not easy for a new believer, or for some, somebody who never gets any Bible in them, it's not easy for them to take that and swallow it, because they feel like, but what if I sin tomorrow, well what if I go out and kill somebody, what if I do something terribly bad, what if I keep falling back into it, I quit coming to church, and it's hard for them to believe the word of God, which says, he's forgiven you, having forgiven you, now this one's already in the past, all trespasses, this is your position in Christ, now look at chapter 3 of Colossians, Colossians chapter 3, and verse 13, we saw this verse, or similar to it in Ephesians last week about loving the brethren,
[16:24] Colossians 3 verse 13, forbearing one another and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any, even as Christ forgave you, past tense, so also do ye, so you're commanded to forgive each other, the brethren, because there's a basis that is established that you have been forgiven all of your trespasses, God has forgiven me, because I stand positionally in Christ, forgiven of all sins and trespasses, therefore I have no right to have a beef with somebody else, because they've done me wrong, because of that, now this is your position in Jesus Christ, it's important to know that, now come back to 1 John, there's more, and look at chapter 3 now, John's concerned about sin, and he speaks on it positionally, and look at chapter 3, 1 John 3 and verse number 5,
[17:35] John says this, So I have a question, did he do it or not? Because he was manifested to do it. Jesus Christ came, manifested in the flesh, God in the flesh, to do what? To take away our sin. So did he do it or not?
[18:02] And this is something that you, if you don't have this settled in your heart, or don't understand this, you need to decide, if I still have to have my sins forgiven, if I'm still not sure that I'm saved, or if it's based, you're kind of basing it on your performance, if I'm right, then I'm okay. If you're struggling with this, you need to ask those questions, he was manifested to take away our sins, so did he do it or not?
[18:31] Come to Hebrews. We're going to be back in 1 John, but look at Hebrews chapter 10. John the Baptist was a preacher, and he proclaimed when he saw the Lord Jesus Christ, he said, Behold, to everybody around, behold the Lamb of God which taketh away.
[18:51] Taketh away. That's an important word, the sin of the world. Alright, Hebrews chapter 4, and now here the author's trying to get Jews to understand that the Lord Jesus Christ is superior to your entire Old Testament law, set up, priesthood, the whole thing, every point of it, and one point is your sacrifices, and in chapter 10, verse 4, he said, It is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins.
[19:23] Not possible. Okay, so then what did Jesus Christ do? Look at verse 11. It says, And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.
[19:37] Never. It's not possible. But he was manifested to take away sins. So verse 10, I skipped, says, By the which will we are sanctified through the, not the sacrifices of animals, we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
[19:57] He says later in verse number 12, But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins, forever sat down on the right hand of God.
[20:09] So according to the scriptures, he did fulfill what he was manifested to fulfill. He took away our sins. John said he's the propitiation for our sins.
[20:23] Now come back to that passage actually, 1 John chapter 2, and let's look at that there. This is your position. John is concerned about the doctrine that you understand and believe your position in Jesus Christ.
[20:38] 1 John chapter 2, verses 1 and 2 again. My little children, these things write I unto you that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous, and he is the propitiation for our sins.
[20:58] And not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. Now for some, that's a big word, and that's a strange word, and I don't know if I've ever in my life used it outside of the biblical terms.
[21:10] I don't think I've ever walked through the grocery store and used the word propitiation. I don't think I ever will. So if you don't know what that word means, it means that the Lord Jesus Christ appeased or satisfied, or he is the element necessary to satisfy God's wrath against sin.
[21:29] Remember, God's a holy, holy, pure God. Just one sin, and it doesn't work with him. You cannot be, opposites attract? Well, not in this case.
[21:41] God will not. But he refuses anything that has to do with sin. It cannot approach unto him. So the Lord Jesus Christ has to be dealt with, paid for, and cleared up.
[21:52] And the Lord Jesus Christ is that sacrifice and that propitiation, the one that took away our sins, satisfied God's wrath. Now notice this in this verse.
[22:05] The Bible says here we have an advocate in verse one. We have, present tense, an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous.
[22:17] And that means he is therefore, he's on our side. Now, first of all, you know how it feels and how it's confusing to a new believer or even to, to just somebody who's backslidden and struggles with sin.
[22:31] How it feels is that Jesus Christ is on my side when I'm living right. When I'm doing right, yep, I'm forgiven, I've confessed my sins and faithful just forgive us our sins and I'm walking in the light and have fellowship with him and he's my advocate.
[22:47] He's all good, but that's not what the verse says. It says in verse one, if any man sin, we have an advocate. You know when he's the advocate?
[23:01] It's when you sin. We think it's the other way around. We think it's when we're doing right, he's on our side. No, it's when you're doing wrong, he steps in. That's where he's our advocate.
[23:13] Some people struggle with their sin. They struggle with how it affects them and their fellowship with God or their relationship with God and am I still saved? Was I ever saved because these idiot preachers going around saying that you're not truly saved because you're living in sin and you're not truly saved.
[23:34] And I, oh, shut up. Read your Bible. If any man sin, we have an advocate. Thank God we do because we sin. And then they want to say, well, it doesn't say if you continue in sin.
[23:48] So if you're continuing in sin, you can't say that. You can't make the Bible say something you want it to say. Stop it. So we have an advocate and he steps up on our behalf when we sin.
[24:04] Why does he do that? Because God's not interested in us sinning. And if we're his child, that's something that doesn't work. But Jesus Christ steps in and he's the propitiation.
[24:15] He's the one that satisfied God's wrath against our sin. The ones we commit. The ones we commit every day. We have an advocate. He's kind of like that lawyer that's on retainer for that exact situation when you sin.
[24:32] Now this is how, this is what believing the Bible is. And this is what faith is. It's taking God at his word and then resting in it and believing it and walking accordingly.
[24:45] It's not fighting with it. It's not changing it and deciding it should be this or it could say that. So which one is it? It's believing the word of God and resting in what he said he did or is doing.
[25:02] So the Bible says you're forgiven. It says that he's taken away or paid for in whom we have redemption through his blood. And it says when we sin he steps in in a way or in the way and satisfies the eternal wrath of God.
[25:18] Look at chapter 4 and remember that he came for this reason. Chapter 4 and it was in verse 10.
[25:29] This propitiation it shows up twice. Second time in verse 10 of chapter 4. Herein is love not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins.
[25:44] If any man sin we have an advocate and he's the propitiation for our sins. There it says that he loved us and sent his son to be that very propitiation to satisfy it because God does not want to judge you and damn you because of your sin.
[26:04] So he in essence damned his own son so that he could receive you. And here that's love. Herein is love. Amen. Not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins.
[26:20] Notice that he sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins. He did not send his son to show us a better way.
[26:31] He didn't send his son to do good to love your enemies. How much has that been pumped and just spewed out around the world that that's why Jesus came to be an example to teach us how to love each other.
[26:49] The scripture says he came what's his primary goal was to satisfy the wrath of God against these filthy wicked sinners who think they can love each other the way he wants them to.
[27:01] They needed to get their they needed to get washed. They needed to have their minds quickened and made alive to the word of God and understanding how holy he is and how how how short all have sinned and come short and to understand just how short we fall of the glory of God.
[27:22] He came to be he was manifested to take away our sins. All right this is your position. There's no clock back there tonight. Sorry. I can't even gauge where I'm at.
[27:34] So. No, no, no, no, no. No. 624. We got all night. Thank you. So Christ came.
[27:45] That's the position. John's dealing with your sin. He's concerned about it in one of the cases and one of the places to always start is the doctrine. Is the doctrine. Get that squared away.
[27:56] He says that we read it in chapter 2 or chapter yeah 2 that your sins are forgiven you. That Jesus Christ when you do sin he steps up. We have an advocate.
[28:07] He paid for your sins. He's here to take away your sins. He was manifested to take away your sins and so I hope that's settled and you understand that and you can get past that struggle with sin.
[28:20] Realize. Remember that when I sin against God I don't need to beat myself up. I don't need to cry and get saved again and show God how sorry I am.
[28:31] You need to understand that you know what when I did that Christ stepped into my place and appeased God's wrath. And you need to still there's fellowship situation.
[28:44] We'll see that right now. You need to still make sure you're on good terms with God who already knows what you did and Christ already stepped in for you and so forth. Let's move on to the second thing and we'll have to go quickly here.
[28:57] The practical side here. First was the positional now the practical side that John wants to that he's concerned that we need to know. This one is the day by day view of our sins.
[29:09] The shortcomings of our Christian life where we fall short and fall short again and stumble and fall again and the just man falls seven times and that's you and me falling, falling, falling just short of the glory of God.
[29:27] Practically speaking what about that sin? I already got you that doctrine that Christ is your advocate when you sin. But John kind of gives his own version of the two natures that Paul teaches.
[29:39] Paul teaches it to the church a whole lot more clearly than John does. And come to chapter 3, 1 John 3. John, though, when he writes and he references some of this material, it has an application to the two natures.
[29:58] He's got a deeper meaning and the reason is John is, he's got some future application to what he writes, to the tribulation, remnant and folks living then.
[30:09] And I think that's why it's odd in the wording of some of John's epistle and in applying it strictly to believers today is because some of John's doctrine goes out far beyond our day.
[30:23] And that's just the fantastic mind of God to be able to write a book that has application in one age but have future application and the words are the same and you just have to study it out and to understand it.
[30:38] And it's amazing. But nevertheless, here's what John says. I'll read, I might as well just read the passage and we'll try to be quick. 1 John chapter 3 verse 1 through 9.
[30:51] And while we're reading this, if you know your doctrine from Paul of the two natures that when you're born again God comes in and makes a new creature, just let that be what you understand of this.
[31:02] Verse 1, Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called the sons of God. Therefore the world knoweth us not because it knew him not.
[31:13] Beloved, now are we the sons of God and it doth not yet appear what we shall be but we know that when he shall appear we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself even as he, that's Christ, is pure.
[31:31] Whosoever committeth sin, transgresseth also the law for sin is the transgression of the law and you know that he was manifested to take away our sins and in him is no sin. Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not.
[31:44] There's your new man. Whosoever sinneth hath not seen him neither known him. The application, that's your old man. Little children, let no man deceive you. He that doeth righteousness is righteous even as he is righteous.
[31:58] Why is that? Because Christ is in you and it's his working through you. Paul teaches that clearly. Verse 8, He that committeth sins of the devil, there's your flesh, for the devil sinneth from the beginning for this purpose the Son of God was manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil.
[32:14] Whosoever is born of God sinneth or does not commit sin for his seed remaineth in him in the new man and he cannot sin because he is born of God.
[32:24] Now, notice that I highlighted the references to being in him. That's the new creature. Paul calls it Christ in you, the hope of glory. In verse number 3, it's every man that hath his hope in him, that hope of glory, that hope of being like him, appear like him when we see him as he is.
[32:43] And so, the teaching is the same. It matches Paul but it's worded slightly different and there's a reason for that because this is going to go out further and it's going to be very literal in the future in some ways.
[32:59] I'm just going to have to skip the material where I was going to run you back through Paul but time's getting away. But in Romans 7 and Romans 13 and Galatians 5 then there's even Ephesians 4 and Colossians 3 he deals with all of this material the Apostle Paul does so much more than anybody else in teaching the new thing that takes place in this age where Christ comes inside makes a new creature a new man and inside that new man he's righteous he's holy he's a child of God he cannot sin he's any sin that's committed is in his flesh and you do well to read carefully Romans chapter 7 in the 20s the early 20s and read how the Apostle Paul after being saved for 25 years is still saying that I'm a wretched man and he says sin dwelleth in me and he says in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing but then he also describes the inward man and how he delights in the law of God after the inward man so he describes two separate people that he's fighting with in Galatians 5 he references them contrary the one to the other and them being at war and it's a daily thing this is your the practical view on sin this day to day thing this battle now come back to 1st John chapter 1 and let's make sense of something he says here something that some people mess up verse 5 5 through 7 this then is the message that we have heard of him and declare unto you that God is light and in him is no darkness at all if we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness we lie and do not the truth if we walk in the light as he is in the light we have fellowship one with another and the blood of Jesus Christ his son cleanseth us from all sin now some folks take this to say that if we walk verse 7 in the light as he is in the light the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin but that's not what the verse says and they take this conditional forgiveness of sins if you're walking in the light then you're forgiven of sins but again remember in chapter 2 it's if we any man sin we have an advocate this is not the teaching
[35:16] John says if we walk in the light as he is in the light we have fellowship one with another so your sins or walking in darkness can definitely break off the fellowship that you can have with Jesus Christ but it doesn't mean that the blood of Jesus Christ doesn't cleanse you from all sin it doesn't mean you're not forgiven of your sins like he says in chapter 2 it doesn't mean that he didn't take away sins like we've read so in verse 7 if we walk in the light as he is in the light we have fellowship one with another and the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses or his son cleanses us from all sin those are the sins of the flesh so if we're over here walking in the light as he is in the light we have fellowship with him and the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all of that mess the sins of the flesh but if we're walking in darkness we're still forgiven in the new man but we're not having any fellowship over there if we're walking in darkness we'll drop dead and pay for our you know I want to say pay for our sins in hell definitely not that we'll drop dead we'll reap what we've sown is what I'm trying to say and we're up with him in glory now practically speaking
[36:28] John says we need to walk in the light and that is in the new man and God is light and inside the new man and again the verses I could have backed it up a little stronger with Paul but we don't have time where we're created after righteousness and true holiness where we bear his image Peter says that he's given unto us a divine nature that's holiness that's God inside of us that's how we walk in the light alright one more thing will be done look at chapter 5 so John's concerned about sin positionally understanding that practically your walk in the new man and then finally prophetically and we'll just close with this little thought here some of this stuff's peculiar and here's how to make some sense of it chapter 5 verse 16 if any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death he shall ask and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death there is a sin unto death I do not say that he shall pray for it now this is the John's teaching prophetically speaking some future application there will be a Jewish audience in the future that will be looking for some truth and some instruction and it will make a whole lot of sense to them when they read him say that there is a sin unto death now what does that mean well it's a sin that you can't ask and get life for that he's talking about it's a damning sin it's a sin that mentioned in Hebrews is falling away unto perdition it's a point of no return and John mentioned something about it look at verse 18 he says we know that whosoever is born of
[38:11] God sinneth not but he that is begotten of God look what he does keepeth himself and that wicked one toucheth him not now practically speaking church age wise yeah I'm born again I'm saved sealed by the Holy Ghost and I'm not I got eternal security in this passage he's talking a little bit more futuristically prophetically about somebody who has to keep himself and not allow the wicked one to be able to touch him so prophetically John's concerned about a particular sin that the Jews have got to keep themselves away from though it's going to be hard and the temptation will be very high at that time it'll be very real so he mentions in this epistle a few things about the spirit of antichrist and that's in chapter 4 here and he mentions a few things about keeping themselves from the wicked one about overcoming the wicked one and overcoming the false prophets that are out there in chapter 4 and so some of that language that's just like what's that about or how does that apply to me well some of that stuff doesn't apply to you it's not going to and that's okay
[39:23] John there's some double application to this book the way God wrote it and John's looking out into the future as well and he's warning some folks about the future about the antichrist and about the wicked one and about sinning a sin what do you think that could be there's only one sin in this bible that shows up that somebody could commit that is unto death in the sense of spiritual death they can't get life for they can't come back from and that is worshipping the beast or taking his mark and in the tribulation that thing's going to be alive and well and a temptation and I think you know enough about that I'm sure you're familiar with what John says in the revelation about that so prophetically speaking there's some stuff about that as well about sin so I thought I'd just throw that on in the end but John's concerned about sin and it's an important issue that God doesn't overlook and he doesn't minimize he never has and he's never going to and so he writes about it in all five chapters and more times more mentions per chapter than any other author of any other book he writes about sin again it was something
[40:33] I wasn't going to even bring up but it just felt like how can I ignore it because this is absolutely a concern of John's and God's merciful he's understanding he knows we're flesh but he's also holy and he expects us to be in agreement with him and we can thank God that we have a position in Jesus Christ that our sins are forgiven but practically speaking day to day speaking when you walk out of these doors he expects you to walk in the light and he expects you to walk in fellowship with him pure having your sins forgiven and walking in the light like a child of God just like Paul says walk as children of light and that's what God wants he expects it he deserves it and so let's take the position that God takes on sin that all unrighteousness is sin and it's a big deal to him and I think the spirit of our day is just minimizing sin and it's justifying sin it's allowing sin what God would call sin they call worship what God would call flesh and carnality they call spiritual what
[41:43] God would call evil they call good and we need to we need to understand that John's concerned about sin for us we better get concerned about it too because he's got a right to and so we need to preach against it against it we need to stand against it we need to fight it and keep ourselves clear so that's where we'll stop this week we'll go one more week here in 1st John