Sunday Morning Service (I John 5:14-21)

I John 5:14-21

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“Loving Our Brothers” •  5.24.20  •  Calvary Christian Fellowship, Sunday Morning Service

Intro.

- As John brings his first epistle to a close, he focuses the Ephesian's attention upon the twin pillars of Christian life: Love for God and love for our fellow brethren.

- In the first thirteen verses of chapter five, John has spelled out with great clarity, what it means for God to be loved.

- God receives our love, when we keep His unburdensome commandments, when we love one another indiscriminately, as He has loved us and when we believe His testimony about His Son!

- Today, we examine the final portion of the book of First John and look into what John is authorized to command us with regard to how we love our brothers! Verse 14.

Text

• I John 5:14,15 : "Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him." : John begins with our posture before God. There is confidence that we have in Him!

- We have taken note of this word "confidence" before. It is defined by being outspoken. It is related to being blunt. There is an unreserved quality, a lack of fear to fully speak one's mind.

- Additionally, the grammar indicates that this is what we have and will always have in Him. This isn't a characteristic that should lead to arrogance. We are not confident in ourselves, but in Him!

- It's akin to when your older brother shows up right before your enemy is about to enter into conflict with you! Our posture of confidence issues in how we conduct our prayer life.

- Because of who He is to us, we know that it's open season for us! We can ask anything according to His will and He hears us!

- Please do notice that all of our prayers are heard by the Lord Jesus and we can ask anything. But remember that we will only have that which is according to His will and purpose!

- When we pray toward things that are according to His will, He is consistently and continually hearing us! Does that not comfort you?

- Your prayers reach the very throne room of heaven! When they are refined enough to be submitted to seeing His will accomplished through your life, they will be answered!

- We can be sure that our requests have been granted when they line up with His will. John gives us an example of this in verse 16.

• I John 5:16,17 : "If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin which does not lead to death, he will ask, and He will give him life for those who commit sin not leading to death. There is sin leading to death. I do not say that he should pray about that. All unrighteousness is sin, and there is sin not leading to death." : Let's look at the perameters that are given to us regarding our prayer in this situation. "If anyone."

- John begins this scenario with a call to anyone in the body of Christ, who understands that their brother is sinning. This is a reminder that the body of Christ is meant to regulate itself.

- This is not reserved for the spiritual elite or the properly trained minister. This is for any person in the body of Christ. John assumes that you will take responsibility.

- Note again the need to be present in your brother's life. You cannot perceive when a person is in sin unless you are near to him! Christian service is not for someone else!

- It is your responsibility to consider your family in Christ, to look out for them and to be instant in prayer for them! The Bible knows nothing of remote Christianity!

- That doesn't mean that you are "looking into them!" This isn't a call for investigation. John is not commending a "sin sniffing" campaign to us. This person "sees his brother."

- The idea here is that in the normal course of life, there is understanding. He understands the spiritual implications that his eyes see. He's a first hand witness. What is that person to do?

- 'He will ask!" It's not that they will spread the news around or seek to impress others with their hyper spirituality and concern. Go to the Lord privately and ask. What are we to ask?

- On the part of the person, we are to ask the Lord to intervene! Ask Him to reveal more of Himself to this person, to allow their heart to receive the Word for their situation!

- For our part, we are to ask if there is anything that is required of us! We've already looked at John's earlier exhortation, but let us remember it here:

• I John 3:18 : "My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth." : We must ask the Lord if there is an action for us to take on their behalf or at the very least, a set of scriptures to pray that apply to their situation!

- Prayer is our first and best response, but it may not be our final response! The hope of course is what John promises will happen here: God will give this brother life!

- These words are reminiscent of what James wrote to the early church in his epistle.

• James 5:19,20 : "Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins." : James' brother Jude made a similar statement in his epistle about pulling people from the fire! (Jude 23)

- Our prayers play a part in affecting the spiritual life of our brothers! Let us not be negligent!

- This should not be forsaken especially for the one whose sin is not leading to death. I know what is surely at the forefront of your mind. "What is a sin not leading to death?"

- In the life of a believer, there will be failures that fill our days. The word "sin" means to "miss the mark." We will shoot to be entirely pleasing to God, but our flesh will reliably get in the way!

- Notice that this brother is "sinning a sin," not "sinning and sinning!" You and I are capable of falling short and generally, these lapses will result in our conviction and subsequent confession.

- For those that did not memorize I John 1:9, it would be wise to do so. Confession of our sin leads to our being cleansed from it! In that way, these are sins that do not lead to death.

- They are momentary lapses, failures to subjugate our mouths, hearts or minds. We immediately, through the agency of the Holy Spirit, repent and confess.

- These type of moments don't lead to death. They actually lead us back to life!

- In fact, God is so gracious in His forgiveness, each time we experience His forgiveness, we have been restored to the joy of our salvation! (Psalm 51:12)

- When you are watching a believer struggle through sins like anger, lust, bitterness and covetousness, pray for him to have victory over these areas of sin!

- Then, it is God who will give that person life! He will infuse Him with the grace that he needs to embrace the life that He intends him to have and to repent from the life his flesh would desire!

- John's instructions however, take a turn here when one understands that there are sins leading to death. In order to understand this, I'd suggest that we review a few cases.

- In the Old Testament, Aaron's sons, Nadab and Abihu, offered unauthorized fire upon the altar of the Lord and fire devoured them before the Lord. (Leviticus 10:2)

- When David was set to bring the ark into Jerusalem from the home of Abinidab, he constructed a cart that nearly keeled over when it encountered uneven road.

- When Uzzah reached out his hand to steady the ark, he was struck dead by the Lord on account of his error. (I Samuel 6:7)

- There are two examples in the New Testament that I'd have you recall, the first of which occurs in Acts 5.

- Annanias and Sapphira conspired to pretend to give all of the proceeds of their recent land sale to the church. When their hypocrisy was uncovered, both fell dead at the feet of Peter.

- Later, in the book of First Corinthians, Paul explained that certain members of the congregation had become sick and died because they treated God's communion with contempt!

- It was for that reason that many were weak, sick and many had slept, ie. died. (I Corinthians 11:30) What is the commonality between these seemingly disparate stories?

- Each person or group of people greatly misrepresented the holiness of the Lord!

- Nadab and Abihu, according to the context following their demise, may have been drunk when they offered to the Lord. (Leviticus 10:9-11)

- Uzzah should have allowed the ark to fall to the ground instead of communicating to the watching nation that he could lend a holy, omnipotent God a hand!

- Annanias and Sapphira made the church their little cheering section, taking attention away from their Holy God when they sought to pull a fast one on God's men!

- The people of Corinth betrayed the very meaning of the Lord's supper when they came to get their own fill of food and drink, leaving little or nothing for the poor!

- Christian people die for two reasons on this planet. The first of which is that they have run their course and finished their race. That was Paul's testimony to Timothy in II Timothy 4:7.

- It was said of King David that he died "after he had served his own generation by the will of God." (Acts 13:36) This is the kind of testimony that we want.

- We want to lay our heads down in peace on our last day, knowing that we lived a life that was pleasing, honoring and fruitful to the Lord. This leads to the second reason that a Christian dies.

- These leave or are about to leave such a stain upon their own witness, as well as the reputation of the Lord, that God just decides to take them home!

- These people are the ones that specialize in the sin of presumption, moving ahead of or in spite of God's plan and then asking Him to clean up their mess or bless their path nonetheless.

- In II Chronicles 34, the Lord brings a beautiful breath of fresh air into the line of the Kings. Josiah's reign was one of reform and revival.

- Everything went well until Josiah went out to specifically challenge Egypt during the battle of Carchemish. Josiah was warned to keep away by the King of Egypt.

• II Chronicles 35:22 : "Nevertheless Josiah would not turn his face from him, but disguised himself so that he might fight with him, and did not heed the words of Necho from the mouth of God. So he came to fight in the Valley of Megiddo."

- Additionally, there are the people who will not allow the Lord to cut off their former life of temptation, but will continue to run back to it, forsaking any victory that the Lord would secure.

- Who doesn't remember Samson's story? How did he keep coming back for more? He wasn't conquered by the Philistines. He was conquered by his own lust! (Judges 16)

- The Lord was gracious enough to redeem his death, to vanquish His own enemies, but a person like Samson is a "woulda, coulda, shoulda" story!

- Germane to this group of people that John was writing to were the former Ephesian church members who were falling into an apostasized state, running headlong toward the antichrist spirit!

- There is no prayer that can be uttered for a person who decides to foolishly follow heresy! All unrighteousness is sin, but not all sin leads to death. Verse 18.

• I John 5:18-20 : "We know that whoever is born of God does not sin; but he who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him. We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one. And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life." : Let's begin with what we know. The classic way to interpret scripture is to interpret scripture with scripture!

- Allow the clear passages to dictate the meaning of the unclear. When you don't know what to think, fall back on what you know! "We know."

- We have this understanding that a person who is born again, does not practice or involve themselves in habitual sin. Does this not further clue us in on the sin that leads to death?

- Habitual, rebellious, unrepentant sin will lead you directly, if not slowly, to death's door! A believer will not live their lives that way. This leads us to a tricky passage.

- As it stands, it seems to read that the one that is born of God "keeps himself." This assumes that a person is guarding, attending to himself.

- He knows where he is weak and will not allow himself to be in a position that affords his weakness any strength against him.

- He is vigilent to protect himself and diligent to strengthen himself. This is true. We are to take on a regimen that protects our soul from the barrage of sin.

- There are some however, that interpret this passage, because of the grammar, in this way: "But HE (Jesus) keeps him." This is reflected in the NASB, CSB, NIV and NLT.

• I John 5:18 (NLT) : "We know that God’s children do not make a practice of sinning, for God’s Son holds them securely, and the evil one cannot touch them."

- This translation sees Jesus as the One that guards over our souls! Jesus says as much in John's gospel.

• John 10:27-29 : "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand." : So which is it? Does Jesus keep us or do we keep ourselves? BOTH!

- We believe in the power of God to keep us in Him AND we live in such a way that His power is made manifest through our obedience! What is the result? The wicked one does not "touch him!"

- The word refers to "adhering" or "clinging" to something! There is no place for the Devil to grab ahold of! He has no foothold in this person's life.

- This person will not perfectly follow the Lord. He will slip up, but it won't be a habit. The other person, the one who is sinning a sin that leads to death, will allow himself to be given to it!

- That person who plays with fire will be burnt! The Christian knows that they are of God, but the rest of the world lies outstretched, powerless against the Devil!

- John is saying that a person who leaves the boundaries of Christian practice for the uncharted waters of sin, puts themselves in the same danger as those in the world!

- On the other hand, Christians have come to understand that the Lord has come and has given us a mind, an understanding, an insight that the world doesn't have.

- He has given us understanding of His being and nature. He is true! We know that we are in Him who is true, the One True God and eternal life!

- A Christian that follows his Lord closely, has obeyed the truth and is safe within it! This is why we are to pray until the Lord's truth prevails over the enemy's lies in our brother's lives! Verse 20.

• I John 5:21 : "Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen." : John completes his epistle with this final, abrupt command to his "born ones."

- When it comes to loving the family of faith, John concludes with what amounts to a gallon of prevention! "Keep yourselves from idols."

- "Keep" comes from a word family that refers to a soldier's duty to stand watch over a prisoner, making sure that the prisoner does not escape.

- The Lord Jesus keeps you in Him. We must seek to keep ourselves from seeking any other place of comfort and solace.

- This is such a difficult topic to consider, because you and I are hardwired to immediately reject the notion of idolatry, simply because we believe it to be isolated to figurines.

- Most of us are offended at the thought of bowing or offering allegiance to a physical statue. Yet, there is still idolatry to the concepts that are embodied by those statues.

- Rome worshipped "Bacchus," which is the god of drunkenness. Ancient Israel worshipped "Ashtoreth," which is the goddess of fertility and sexuality. The Canaanites worshipped "Baal."

- They worshipped him by sexual immorality, but Baal was the God of the economy!

- Are these gods not worshipped today? Is our society free from drunkenness or insobriety?

- Are we free from sexual temptation when pornography remains a billion dollar industry? Who isn't preoccupied with their own personal economy?

- An idol doesn't need a shape to wrest our attention and adoration away from that which deserves the greatest affection! That is what an idol is: A replacement for the true and living God!

- These idols that I have mentioned are the larger concepts that threaten our allegiance to God, but these aren't all.

- Any item of any size, whether it's parked in a special place, or is wrapped in a favored uniform, can unduly sap our desire to give the Lord our whole hearts.

- At the end, let me suggest that there was one more part of idolatry that threatened the church of Ephesus. Their particular danger was to redefine the God that they had been worshipping.

- They attempted to fashion the true God to be more accomodating to the accepted cultural norms of their day.

- As they bought into Gnostic fever, they imagined a god that would tolerate immorality because "God wasn't concerned with physical, material bodies."

- They believed that these bodies were inherently evil, so why not enjoy all of their appetites! In their thinking, this didn't really affect their spiritual selves.

- Of course, on the other side of the Gnostic front, there were those who believed that their God was a god of intelligence and knowledge and restraint.

- Therefore, they adopted an ascetic's life, clinging to the supposed higher knowledge that their new culturally relevant Pastors peddled.

- Their allegiance, affection and attention were moving away from the True God of the Bible and were being placed upon a god with the same Name, but with a very different character!

- That is the kind of idolatry that each of us need to be careful of! Today, it expresses itself in a statement that sounds like this: "My God would never."

- Please notice the fatal flaw in this statement: "My God!" It's telling from the moment it escapes one's lips! These have a version of God that they have adopted.

- They have clung to one attribute that they love, but cannot conceive of God having another attribute that runs in seeming contradiction. Their version of God is a graven image.

- Their version of God is a static concept, similar to when one falls in love with a picture trapped in time, but fails to love the person who is far more than the memory within!

- Nobody can enlarge upon the true nature of God but everybody is in danger of accepting a lesser version of Him! Why would anyone transfer their trust to an inferior icon?

- This is comfortable to you and you control it! "My little children, keep yourselves from idols!"

• I John 5:21 (NLT) : "Dear children, keep away from anything that might take God’s place in your hearts." : This includes anything large, small or iconic! Trust yourself to the true God, who reveals Himself in scripture alone!

- When the Bible says that He does something, accept that He is free to do that thing. Let Him shatter any potential image that you have built up!

- Now, why is this related to loving our brothers? This prevents us from falling to the trap of following or recommending a God that is only a figment of our own imaginations!

- If I love something less than the true God, my heart toward my brothers will be warped. I will love those that agree with me, that accept my version of God.

- I will adopt behaviors and embrace values that will run contrary to what has been the acceptable practice of my fellow believers, causing them great grief as they watch my life devolve!

- Watch over your theology, for your own sake! What you believe about God is paramount and to believe in a god that you have made up is eternally perilous to your soul.

- How much worse is it then should others follow your lead?

Conclusion
- How are we to love our brothers? We are to confidently endure in prayer! Pray for their eyes to be opened, for God to reveal the error of their ways.

- Go to the throne room and say, "Lord, here am I. Send me!" Be ready to receive orders, should the Lord want you to do anything. But first, and foremost, pray and petition God for you family!

- Second, consistently engage in proper theology! Never settle for what is less than God. Be careful to keep Him the center of your heart's affections.

- Reject any notion that limits Him or makes Him especially dear to you. This is vital to your brothers and sisters. "Watch your life and your doctrine closely!" (I Timothy 4:16) Let's pray!