Would you turn back to 1 John
5. Let's read these verses again. Verse 16, if any man see his
brother sin a sin, which is not unto death, he shall ask and
he, the Lord 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. I've entitled this message, When
You See Your I was thinking about the title
of that message and I bet it's going to get a whole lot more
hits than usual on the internet. Yeah, what do we do when we see
our brother sin? What do we do about it? How do we? Well, when
you see your brother sin, take this as a given, you will see
him sin because he's just like you are. You will see him sin. I'm afraid that all of us probably have
a lot of David in us. I think of David's sin. He was not doing his job as a
king, wandering around on the rooftop. He spotted Bathsheba
and through a horrible abuse of power, had her brought to
himself He committed adultery with her and he ended up murdering
her husband trying to cover things up. And Nathan the prophet came
to him and told him about something that took place. There was a
very poor man who had one little lamb and he treated that lamb
as if it was a child that actually ate at his table. And there was
a very wealthy man who had vast flocks of sheep and a traveler
came to the wealthy man. And instead of killing one of his own sheep
and feeding the man, he took that poor man's lamb and killed
it and fed it to his guest. When David heard that, with righteous
indignation, he said, that man will surely die. He could see
very clearly the wickedness of that action. And then Nathan
said to him, thou art the man. I think it's amazing how we can
see other people's sin pretty clearly. David did. He was gonna
have that man killed, but he didn't see his own. Now, I take it as a given that
I fear we're pretty good at seeing other men's sins. When you see your brother sin,
Now, let's focus for just a moment on this word, brother. If any
man see his brother, sin, a sin. The brother is one of Christ's
brethren. Whom he did foreknow, them he
also did predestinate, that he might be the firstborn among
many brothers. Both he that sanctifies and they
who are sanctified are all of one, for the which cause he is
not ashamed to call them brethren. Now these brethren are beloved
of God, but we're bound to thank God always for you, brethren,
Beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen
you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the
truth. We read in Hebrews 2.17, where
in all things it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren. He was made in all things like
unto his brethren. That's why he was made sin, that
he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining
to God. I think of right after the resurrection,
when those women were bowing at the Lord's feet, he said,
you go before me and tell my brethren, tell my brethren. He said, I go to my God and your
God, my father and your father. He said that to his brethren. I think of what our Lord said
in Matthew chapter 25. He said, in as much as you've
done it to the least of these, my brethren, you've done it to
me. And in as much as you did it
not to the least of these, my brethren, you did it not to me. Now what a high calling to be
one of the brethren. I love it when the Lord said,
don't call each other rabbi for you are all brethren. Oh, to
be in this family called the brethren. How powerful it was when Ananias
came to Saul of Tarsus after God had met him on the road to
Damascus and said, brother Saul. What an immense privilege to
be one of the brethren. Now, as I said, you can take
this as a given. You are going to see him sin
because he's just like you are. Don't get high and mighty. You're
gonna see him sin. Because he's just like you are. A sinner saved by grace. Now, John says all unrighteousness
is sin in verse 17. He says in 1 John 3, verse 4,
sin is the transgression of the law. There's a lot of things
we could say about sin. The Bible gives a lot of definitions
of sin. Whatsoever is not of faith is
sin. To him that knoweth to do good and doeth not to him it
is sin. Be partial and show favoritism is sin. The thought of foolishness
is sin. But I love the definition of
sin. Sin is transgression of the law.
Ten commandments. No God is to be put before God.
Nothing is to be put before God. No wrong views and idolatrous
images. Don't take his name in vain. Remember the Sabbath day to keep
it holy. Honor your father and mother.
Thou shalt not murder. Not in your heart. No sexual
sin. Don't steal. Don't bear false witness. Don't covet
the Ten Commandments. You break them nonstop, don't
you? Your brother does as well. You know what? When I speak of
my sin, and when you think of your sin, it's a burden, isn't
it? It's a heavy burden to you. And it's a heavy burden to your
brother as well. Remember that. When you see your brother, see
him. He has the same old evil nature
that you still have, and you will see him sin, right? You will see your brother sin. Now, what is this thing about
a sin that's not unto death? Let's read this again, verse
16. If any man see his brother sin a sin, which is not unto
death, He shall ask and he, the Lord, shall give him life for
them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death. I
don't say you should pray for it. All unrighteousness is sin
and there is a sin not unto death. Now, the first thing that I would
notice about that is not all sins are the same. Not all sins are the same. And I'm going to show you that
from the scriptures. We read of those who will be beaten with
many stripes. And we read of those who will
be beaten with few stripes. Those are the words of the Lord. Turn with me for a moment to
1 Corinthians 6, and this lets us know that there are some sins
that are worse than others. Look at 1 Corinthians 6, beginning in verse 15. Know ye
not that your bodies are the members of Christ? Shall I then
take the members of Christ and make them the members of a harlot?
God forbid. What? Know ye not that he which
is joined to an harlot is one body? For two saith he shall
be one flesh, but he that's joined unto the Lord is one spirit.
Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is
without the body, but he that committed fornication sinneth
against his own body. You see, there is a difference
according to Paul between fornication and other sin. What about Matthew
chapter 10? Would you turn with me there? Matthew chapter 10, verse 14. And whosoever shall not receive
you, Nor hear your words when you're preaching the gospel.
When you depart out of that city, house or city, shake off the
dust of your feet. Verily I say unto you, it shall
be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the
day of judgment than for that city. Now I want you to think
of who Sodom and Gomorrah is. They were those people who wanted
to have unclean relationships with those angels that God came
and destroyed. What base immorality and wickedness
was in that place? And the Lord tells us plainly,
they'll have it better on judgment day than those people who reject
the gospel. Look at Matthew chapter 11, verse
23. And thou, Capernaum, which art
exalted unto heaven, shall be brought down to hell. For if
the mighty works which have been done in thee should have been
done in Sodom, it would have remained unto this day. But I
say unto you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of
Sodom in the day of judgment than for you." Now, that tells
me that somebody that hears the gospel and rejects it is going
to be in worse shape than someone who's never heard the gospel
and has practiced great base immorality. That's very clear
from the Savior's words. it's going to be more tolerable
for Sodom than it would be for Capernaum. Now, you can't miss
the fact that in the scriptures there are different degrees of
punishment in hell. Some beaten with many stripes,
some beaten with few. And the reason being is hell
is according to your works. You're getting exactly what you
deserve. Somebody who's sinned against
more light is gonna have it worse. Someone who's apostatized from
the gospel. Oh, they're gonna have it much
worse than a Hitler or a murderer or a drug pusher. There are degrees
of sin. The scripture teaches that. Now,
the reason there's not degrees of glory or degrees of reward
in heaven is because it's all of grace. It's all of grace. There's nothing you can earn. It's all the gift of God's grace.
But hell is according to your works. Somebody that grew up
hearing the gospel have it worse than somebody that was never
given that privilege on Judgment Day. They sinned against greater
light. The apostate will have it worse
than a whoremonger or a murderer. Now, what is meant? Let's look
back at our text in 1 John chapter 5. I've got to deal with this. If any man see his brother sin
a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask and he shall give
unto him life for that sin unto death. We're gonna get to that
in a minute. But there is a sin unto death. There is a sin unto
death. I do not say that he shall pray
for it. Now what is meant by the sin
unto death? All sin but one sin. can be forgiven. I've heard preachers say, well,
the only sin that can't be forgiven is unbelief. Well, if that's
the case, then you won't be forgiven because all men have been guilty
of unbelief. What he's talking about is the
unpardonable sin, the sin that shall not be forgiven. Now, what is this sin that's
unto death that we're even forbidden to pray for the person that's
committed it? Well, I'm gonna look at several scriptures. Turn
to Matthew chapter 12. Verse 31. Wherefore I say unto you, Matthew
12, 31, wherefore I say unto you, all manner of sin and blasphemy
shall be forgiven unto men. But the blasphemy against the
Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. And whosoever speaketh
a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him. But
whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, It shall not be forgiven
him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come. And if
you go on reading, this has something to do with what you say. Let's
go on reading. Either make the tree good and his fruit good,
or else make the tree corrupt and his fruit corrupt, for the
tree is known by his fruit. O generation of vipers, how can
you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the
heart the mouth speaketh. A good man out of the good treasure
of his heart bringeth forth good things, and an evil man out of
the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth evil things. But
I say unto you that every idle word that men shall speak, they
shall give an account thereof in the day of judgment. For by
thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be
condemned. Turn with me to Hebrews chapter
10. Now, what is this thing that
our Lord is speaking of that will not be forgiven? This unpardonable
sin, speaking against the Holy Ghost. Now, one time there was
a Pentecostal man speaking to me and talking about all the
things that God the Holy Spirit was doing in their assemblies.
I said, he's not doing any of that. He's not doing that. You don't even have the gospel.
And the man said, you better watch out. You're close to sinning
against the Holy Spirit, attributing works of the Holy Spirit to the
devil. I said, I'm not a bit worried about that. I know the
Lord. I know the gospel. You're the
one in trouble here, not me. And he was thinking, you know,
the sin against the Holy Spirit, attributing his works to the
devil. What is the sin against the Holy
Spirit? Look here in verse 26 of Hebrews chapter 10. For if we sin willfully, as a young believer, I don't
know how many times that scripture scared me to death. My sin is willful. When I sin, I'm not forced to
do it. It's premeditated. It's sinful. And I don't know how many times
I read that passage of scripture and feared. Let's go on reading. If we sin willfully, after that,
we've received the knowledge of the truth. Now he gave the
knowledge of the truth in this 10th chapter, didn't he? How
a sinner is saved. Wherefore by one offering he
hath perfected forever. them that are sanctified. Now
there's the knowledge of the truth. How God saves sinners by grace,
by Christ. He does it all. If we sin willfully
after we've received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth
no more sacrifice for sins. There's no way for you to be
saved if you leave the only way of salvation. but a certain fearful
looking for of judgment and fiery indignation which shall devour
the adversaries. He that despised Moses' law died
without mercy under two or three witnesses. Of how much sorer
punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy? who hath
trodden underfoot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood
of the covenant, the blood of the only way of salvation, wherewith
he was sanctified an unholy thing. Now that word unholy, It's the
word common. That's the way it's generally
translated, common, that which is general to all as opposed
to that which is peculiar to the few. Looking at the blood
of the covenant as a general thing, but in universal redemption,
general at the moment. and have done despite unto the
Spirit of grace, for we know him that said, vengeance belongeth
unto me. I will recompense, saith the
Lord. And again, the Lord said, judge his people. It's a fearful
thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Now, what
this is talking about is hearing, believing, receiving the gospel
and going back to salvation by works. That is the unpardonable
sin. sinning willfully and going back
to salvation by works after hearing the truth. Now, one time somebody
left here, this has been years ago, and they started attending
a false church. And for some reason, they called me to attempt
to justify what they were doing. And I said to them, you are at
the edge, or maybe you've already done it, of committing the unpardonable
sin. And they started crying when
I said that, and I've never seen them since then. Now, that's
a very fearful thing, but to go back to works, to go back
to free will religion, to go back to works religion, after
making a profession of the gospel because of something that's costing
you, something that's inconvenient, it's creating problems in your
life, so you go back to works. that is apostasy. Turn to Romans 1. Now, these scriptures are scary,
but the Lord gives them to us to keep us from apostasy. I need
these. You need these. Look in Romans
1 verse For the wrath of God is revealed
from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who
hold, and that word is hold down the truth in unrighteousness.
Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them, for
God has showed it to them. For the invisible things of him
from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood
by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead,
so that they are without excuse. Now, everybody knows somebody
made this and nobody made him and he's eternal and all powerful. But what do they do with this?
Verse 21, but When they knew God, they glorified him not as
God, neither were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations,
and their foolish heart was darkened. Who darkened their heart? God
did. He turned the lights off. I think
of that scripture where God shall send them strong delusion, 2
Thessalonians 2. God shall send them strong delusion.
Why? Because they received not the
love of the truth that they might be saved. Let's go on reading
verse 22, professing themselves to be wise. They became fools
and changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image
made like a corruptible man and to birds and forfeited beasts
and creeping things. Wherefore, God also gave them
up. Now, that's what it is to commit
the unpardonable sin that our Lord speaks of. It's when God
removes his hand. and gives them up. You're on
your own. Turn to 2 Peter chapter 2. Don't you think and believe that
the absolute worst thing that could possibly happen to you
is to be left to yourself? For God to just take his hand
off of you and say, you're on your own. Look in 2 Peter chapter
2, 4 verse 20. For if after they have escaped
the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and
Savior, Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein and overcome,
the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. For
it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness."
You know the way of righteousness? Christ. His righteousness. He is the way of right. He's
the only way of righteousness. There is no other way. It would
be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness
than after they'd known it, to turn from the holy commandment
delivered unto them. But it's happened unto them,
according to the true proverb, the dog has turned to his own
vomit again, the pig that was washed were wallowing in the
mire. And John says, do not pray for
that individual. This is a command. Someone who's
heard the gospel and willfully turned away from it and gone
back to salvation by works. Now, understand, this is a willful
rejection of God's only way of salvation. Somebody, how many times over
the years have we seen people come and go? Now, somebody leaves
here, that doesn't mean they've left the gospel. It doesn't mean
they've left Christ. But if somebody leaves Christ,
see the difference? If somebody leaves the only way
of salvation. Now, that's what he's saying. Don't pray for that person who
sinned against the Holy Spirit. Now, go back to our text in 1
John chapter 5. If any man see his brother sin
a sin, which is not unto death, will confront him. Confront him. Bring to light what he's done.
Bring him before the church. Bring him before the discipline
committee. This man needs to be exposed. Confront him. Doesn't say anything like that,
does it? Doesn't say anything like that at all. Now this does
not mean, being with the scriptures, this does not mean that there
are not occasions where somebody has to deal with somebody in
a different way because of their sin. 1 Corinthians 5, verse 11,
what did we have? A man who is having an affair
with his mother-in-law. Paul said such conduct is not
even named among the Gentiles. And he said, with such a one,
no, not to eat. Don't eat with him. You see,
if you do, you will be putting your approval on that kind of
conduct. He doesn't say anything, but
don't eat with him. Don't, don't have him over. Don't,
that's, that's what that's talking about. It doesn't mean, this
is another clear scripture. Turn to second Thessalonians
chapter two. or chapter three, I'm sorry. Second Thessalonians chapter
three, beginning in verse six. Now we command you, brethren,
in the name of our Lord Jesus, that you withdraw yourselves
from every brother that walketh disorderly and not after the
tradition which he received of us. for yourselves know how you
ought to follow us, for we behave not ourselves disorderly among
you in subordination. Neither, and here's what was
going on, neither did we eat any man's bread, for not, but
wrought with labor and travail night and day, that we might
not be chargeable to any of you, not because we have not power,
but to make ourselves an example unto you to follow us. For even
when we were with you, this we commanded, that if any man would
not work, Neither should he eat. Now you had people taking advantage
of people, not working, expecting everybody to provide for them
and give them food and necessities, and they weren't gonna do anything.
And you know what Paul says about that? If they're not gonna work,
don't let them eat. Now let's go and read. For we
hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working
not at all, but are busybodies. Now them that are such we command
and absorb by our Lord Jesus Christ that with quietness they
work and eat their own bread, quit being a mooch, quit being
a bum. But ye brethren, be not weary in well-doing. And if any
man obey not our word by this epistle, note that man and have
no company with him. that he may be ashamed, yet count
him not as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother." Now, where
we see two situations where we're commanded to not eat with somebody,
that's not talking about withholding the Lord's table. That's talking
about just, I'm not going to buddy up with this person because
of this, and I'm not going to put my approval on. So we see
that that is scriptural. You can't ignore those scriptures.
But for the most part, those are two examples. They're in
the Bible. They're important. They're true.
God revealed them. But for the most part, for the
most part, when your brother sins, just pray for him. Pray for him. And do what love does. Cover
his sin. Cover it. Don't expose it. Cover it. Love covers a transgression. You know, when you see me sin,
and if you're around me, you will, sins of attitude, sins
of the flesh, sins of thought, sins of whatever kind of whatever
kind of sins there are. Pray for me. Pray for me and cover it. That's what love does. Turn with
me for a moment to 1 Peter 4. Verse 8, and above all things, that's
pretty important, isn't it? Above all things, have fervent
charity among yourselves, for charity shall cover. the multitude of sins. If you love somebody, you'll
pray for them. When you see them sin, cover it, ask the Lord to
give them life. And you're the Lord, this is
the way the Lord operates. He'll move you to pray for that
individual so he can bless them and give them life. That's what the scripture says.
He, the Lord Jesus shall give him life. The word, the Lord
works through the prayers of his people. That brother that
sins, don't be too hard on him. Don't be so ready to censor him.
Pray for him. Love him. and cover that sin. That's what love does. Aren't
you glad the Lord loves you and covers your sins? Somebody said to me in the last
couple of weeks, they said, there's too much sin in your church. Yeah, I would agree with that. Wouldn't you? Beginning right
here. I would agree with that. But you know, the church of the
Lord Jesus Christ, the true church, the church of God's elect, is
made of sinners, saved by the grace of God. You know what? They're still
sinners, just like you are, just like you are. Turn with me for
a moment to Romans chapter 14. Now, with regards to our brother's
sin, Romans chapter 14. This is a very poignant question. Verse 10. Why dost thou judge thy brother? Why dost thou set it not, thy
brother? You see, when you judge it, You're
making him nothing. You're setting him at naught.
For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.
I'm going to stand before the judgment seat. My brother is
too. My brother is. Christ is able to make them stand.
And that's what that's a reference to. So don't do it. For it's written, as I live,
saith the Lord, every knee is going to bow to me and every tongue
is going to confess. So then every one of us should give an
account of himself to God. I love what Gene Rutledge said.
He had many things that I loved about him, but my favorite statement
he made was, I got way too many sins of my own to worry about
somebody else's. That's exactly what he's saying.
So every one of us should give an account of himself to God.
Let us not therefore judge one another anymore. That's a command. Let us not
judge one another. That brother that you see sinning,
don't judge him. It doesn't mean you think sin's
okay, but don't judge him. Understand that you do worse,
apart from the grace of God. Maybe you are worse anyway. You
gotta look at that brother that's sinning and think, well, I'm
to esteem him as better than myself. Turn to Matthew chapter
17, or Matthew 7. Verse one. Judge not that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge,
you shall be judged. And with what measure you meet,
it shall be measured to you again. Now, let me tell you this. If
that means, if I judge you, God will judge me, I'm toast. And
you are too. What he's saying is, if you judge
somebody, they're gonna judge you even more harshly. With what measure you mete out,
it's going to be measured to you again. If I feel judged by
somebody, I can see every fault. If I don't feel judged and condemned
by somebody, they're great. That's what that means. That's
what that means. If you feel judged, you're going
to come out swinging. You're going to judge people.
You're going to be harsh and critical. So the Lord says, when you judge
somebody, write this down, they're going to judge you harshly. You're going to be, have it measured
out to you with the same measure that you meet. Verse three, And
why beholdest thou the mote, the splinter that's in thy brother's
eye, but considerest not the beam, the log that's in thine
own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother,
let me pull out the mote out of thine eye, and behold, the
beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out
the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly
to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye. You know what?
I don't think we ever get all the beams out of our eyes, do
we? Matter of fact, I know we don't. When you think, well,
I've got the beams out, I can help you now, you're deceived,
you're deceived. No, no, no. This is the attitude
the believer is to have. Turn to Galatians 6. Verse one, brethren, if a man
be overtaken in a fault. Have you ever been overtaken
in a fault? A sin. And you're overtaken. I mean,
you're defeated. That's what he's talking about.
If a man be overtaken in a fault. You which are spiritual. You know what that means? You're a believer. You have a
spiritual, holy nature. And you can see that you could
fall just as easily, and do fall just as easily, and you're no
better than that guy is. Everybody that's spiritual, that's
going to be their attitude. Not a harsh, judgmental, critical
attitude. Let's see what it says. Ye which
are spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit of meekness, not
judgmental and threatening. Considering thyself, lest thou
also be tempted. Now let me say this. If you're
tempted, you will fall. If you're tempted, you will fall. And you will fall just as bad
as him under the same temptation. Isn't that why the Lord taught
us to pray, lead us not into temptation? I don't want to be
tempted. Lord, put a hedge about me. Because
I know what will happen if I'm tempted. When we see that brother
fall, overtaken in a fault, we know that we're no better than
him, and we're just like him. And in the same circumstances,
we'll do the same thing. Restore such a one in the spirit
of meekness, considering myself, lest I also be tempted. Bear
ye one another's burdens. Now, my sin is a burden to me. Your sin is a burden to you.
Let's bear one another's burdens. You know what that means? That
means put up with one another, for Christ's sake. Put up with one
another. Be gracious toward one another.
and so fulfill the law of Christ. That's the law of Christ. You
want a law to live by? There it is. There it is. That's
the law of Christ. And I love what he says in verse
three, for if a man thinks himself to be something, I wouldn't do
that. When he's nothing, he deceiveth himself. Colossians 3, I'll wrap this
up, Colossians 3. Verse 12. Put on therefore as the elect
of God, holy and beloved, vows of mercy. I love the way Paul calls the
believer holy and beloved. Therefore, holy brethren, partakers
of the heavenly calling, Hebrews Put on, therefore, as the elect
of God, holy and beloved, vows of mercies, kindness, humbleness
of mind, meekness, long-suffering, forbearing one another, and forgiving
one another. If any man have a quarrel against
any, even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. And above all
these things, put on charity, which is the bond. of perfectness. Now that brother that sins, never
forget that you're just bad as he is. Don't forget that. And you ought to esteem him as
better than yourself. Pray for him, love him, forgive
him, bear his burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. I
repeat, you see your brother sin, it may be that he hurt you
deeply in his sin. It may be. Pray for him, love
him, forgive him, and thank God for the gospel of Christ that
saves sinners. This is a faithful saying, and
worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners. Like you, like your brother. Paul said, of whom I am chief. Now the church is made up of
people who are just that, sinners, weak sinners, saved by grace. And when you see your brother
sin, pray for him, pray to the Lord, that the Lord would cause
him to have his steps ordered in his word, And the Lord, the
promise is the Lord will give life to him. Let's pray. Lord, we come into your presence amazed that as sinful as we are, you
see no sin. but that we're holy and unblameable
and unapprovable in your very sight. Lord, enable us to be
gracious, to be nonjudgmental, to be merciful. Oh, Lord, let
those words describe us. For Lord, we know that's who
you are. Lord, deliver us from being harsh,
censoring. Lord, cause us always to take the lowest seat. And Lord, when we see our brother
sin, a sin that's not unto death, give us the grace simply to pray
for them and ask that you would cover their sin and that you
would give them life. Lord, teach us to be gracious
and merciful people. Lord, we ask that we might be
delivered from that sin which is unto death. Lord, we know
that we will go that way if you don't preserve us and keep us,
and we pray for your keeping grace. Bless us for the Lord's sake.
In his name we pray, amen.