INTRO.- ILL.- Perhaps you heard about the other version of John chapter 8 when the woman was caught in adultery.
Jesus saw a crowd chasing down a woman to stone her and approached them. "What’s going on here, anyway?" he asked. "This woman was found committing adultery, and the law says we should stone her!" one of the crowd responded.
"Wait," yelled Jesus. "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone." Suddenly, a stone was thrown from out of the sky, and knocked the woman on the side of her head. Jesus said, "Aw, c’mon, Dad. I’m trying to make a point here!"
It is true that we all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. And it is true that we all deserve to die because of our sin. And it is true, however, that Christ bore our sins in His body on the tree. It is true that He became sin for us so that we could become the righteousness of God. It is true that He tasted death for all mankind because of sin.
And it is also true that if we are without sin then and only then can we cast the first stone! But we are often pretty quick to cast stones at people. We all tend to be guilty of stoning others!
But we should be quicker to cast stones or condemn sin in our own lives before we do it to others! Billy Sunday did that.
ILL.- It was said that preacher Billy Sunday, the baseball evangelist and reformer of the 1930‘s, never spared himself nor those he wanted to help in his attacks on sin. He thundered against evil from the Gay Nineties through the Great Depression. He preached Christ as the only answer to man’s needs until his death in 1935. He said, “I’m against sin. I’ll kick it as long as I’ve got a foot, and I’ll fight it as long as I’ve got a fist. I’ll butt it as long as I’ve got a head. I’ll bite it as long as I’ve got a tooth. “When I’m old and fistless and footless and toothless, I’ll gum it till I go home to Glory and it goes home to perdition.”
I like Billy Sunday’s spirit and fire for the Lord! It sounds like he was truly converted. Billy Sunday was right about sin. He knew what to do about sin! Kick it, fight it, butt it, and send it away to perdition, destruction and damnation!
Of course, we can’t do this without the Lord’s help. No one can fight sin or the devil by himself. It takes a far greater power than what we have. Greater is He who is in us!
PROP.- What should we do about sin and those who commit sin? Our text gives us the proper action.
1- Pray for the one who commits a sin
2- Trust God to keep you safe
3- Realize the world is under control
4- Stay away from idols
I. PRAY FOR THE ONE WHO COMMITS A SIN
16If anyone sees his brother commit a sin that does not lead to death, he should pray and God will give him life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that he should pray about that. 17All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death.
ILL.- A preacher got pulled over for speeding and he said to the officer, "Blessed are the merciful" And the police officer replied, "Go and sin no more!”
Nice thought, but it doesn’t work that way. The police are often not as forgiving as we are supposed to be. And sometimes we’re not very forgiving either.
What is this “sin not to death?” Are some sins worse than others? I thought all sin was alike?
Warren Wiersbe believes John is talking about “habitual” sin, where someone continues to walk in that sin.
Commentator William Barclay says that the sin not to death is where a man sins but hates his sin, is ashamed of it and wants to hide it. He really doesn’t want to sin. Whereas the sin to death is when a man rejoices in his sin and doesn’t see anything wrong with it. He boasts of it and glories in it.
How can we know what sin is “to death” and what sin is “not to death”? There may be times when it’s hard to distinguish since we are not God and cannot discern like He does.
Galatians 6:1-2 “Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. Carry each others’ burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.”
This is, most certainly, not a sin to death. For the most part, whenever we see a brother or a sister who has sinned, we must pray for them and let God do the rest. Instead of being judgmental and/or condemning we should quietly pray for them.
I think probably the best thing to do is any time we witness a brother or sister in sin we should pray for them, asking God to have mercy on them and give them the grace to get over it.
It’s kind of a shotgun like prayer, because we may not be able to discern whether their sin is “to death” or “not to death.” WE PRAY AND LET GOD TAKE CARE OF THE MATTER.
James 5:16 “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.”
You pray for me and I’ll pray for you. That’s what we should do because we all sin! It’s just that some sins are more obvious than others!
II. TRUST GOD TO KEEP YOU SAFE
18We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the one who was born of God keeps him safe, and the evil one cannot harm him.
ILL.- When Billy Sunday was converted and joined the church, a Christian man put his arm on the young man’s shoulder and said, “William, there are three simple rules I can give to you, and if you will hold to them you will never write ‘backslider’ after your name. Take 15 minutes each day to listen to God talking to you; take 15 minutes each day to talk to God; take 15 minutes each day to talk to others about God.”
This young convert was deeply impressed and determined to make these the rules of his life. From that day onward throughout his life he made it a rule to spend the first moments of his day alone with God and God’s Word. Before he read a letter or looked at a newspaper, he went first to the Bible, that the first impression of the day might be what he got directly from God. WAY TO GO, BILLY!
ILL.- Warren Wiersbe wrote: “What breathing is to a physical man, prayer is to a spiritual man. If we do not pray, will “faint.” Luke 18:1. Prayer is not only the utterance of the lips, it is also the desire of the heart.”
He also said, “Prayer is not spiritual self-hypnosis. Nor do we pray because it makes us feel better (although it probably does). We pray because God has commanded us to pray and because prayer is the God-appointed means for a believer to receive what God wants to give him. Prayer keeps a Christian in the will of God and living in the will of God keeps a Christian in the place of blessing and service. We are not beggars; we are children coming to a wealthy Father who loves to give His children what they need.” AMEN!
How do we trust God to keep us safe from sin, the world, the flesh, and the devil? WE PRAY! We not only pray for others but also for ourselves.
Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil! And Lord, keep us out of the devil’s territory. Put a block in our way to keep us out!
If we don’t daily walk with God, we will walk with someone else. If we don’t daily walk with God, commune with God, talk to God, how can we expect Him to protect us and keep us safe?
Matthew 26:36-41 “36Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, "Sit here while I go over there and pray." 37He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. 38Then he said to them, "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me."39Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will." 40Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. "Could you men not keep watch with me for one hour?" he asked Peter. 41"Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak."
Jesus said it well. The flesh is weak. We all are weak at times, but is our spirit willing? Do we want to do right? THEN WE MUST PRAY AND PRAY HARD. This is the way to trust the Lord for safety and protection from evil.
III. REALIZE THE WORLD IS UNDER CONTROL
19We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one. 20We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true—even in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.
ILL.- The Sunday school teacher was describing how Lot’s wife looked back and suddenly turned into a pillar of salt. Little Johnny piped and said, "Hey, my mother looked back while she was driving and turned into a telephone pole."
Sometimes we are not always alert when we are driving. I’ve hit a few things before like the doorway of my garage and I even tore my mirror off the car one time. Another time I was calling at a nursing home where I parked my car next to a concrete wall. When I left the nursing home I backed my car in the wrong direction and right into the concrete wall. I kind of damaged my right front fender!
Alertness pays off when driving. Alertness pays off especially when living the Christian life! Often, we’re more alert when driving our cars and than we we’re driving our lives!
I Thessalonians 5:5-7 “You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night.”
I Peter 5:8 “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”
Haven’t you noticed that some people are not very alert in life? And especially, when it comes to evil?
ILL.- Tiger Woods is very good when it comes to playing golf. He can gauge distance and wind apparently very well, but it when it comes to life (and marriage) he’s not very good. How many women do they say he’s been with? 14? Or more!
He’s not spiritually alert at all and he’s a Buddhist. What’s his problem? His youthfulness. His uncontrollable desire for woman. And his lack of spiritual life.
19We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.
Even though late night comedians make fun of what’s happening in the world and it’s craziness, surely we realize that the world as a whole is under the power of the evil one?! IT’S NOT FUNNY AT ALL!
Galatians 3:22 “But the Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe.”
The world is a restless evil. Haven’t you noticed? Crime, corruption, violence, murder, abuse, rape, etc. How can this be? One word. One name. Satan.
John 8:44 “You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”
IV. STAY AWAY FROM IDOLS
21Dear children, keep yourselves from idols. Stay away from the sin if idolatry.
I Corinthians 5:11 “But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat.”
I Corinthians 6:9-10 “Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.”
Stay away from idols. Why would John say those words? I suspect because it was a real problem. And if it was a problem back then, what about today? Personally, I think the sin of idolatry is worse in our day and time! NAME THAT IDOL.
We know about the “American Idol” TV show. It’s one of the most popular reality shows there is. But the American Idol is everywhere, in the sense, that Americans have their idols.
NAME THAT IDOL. Or maybe name your idol!
ILL.- Recently I was driving down Stadium toward the bypass and a red car caught my eye. What was it? A red Corvette, of course. What also caught my eye was that $14,500 price and OBO. What’s that? Or best offer. Well, my best offer would be about $10,000.
I did stop and look at that Corvette. It’s a 1999 with only 55,000 miles on it. What a deal! No, I didn’t deal on it but at one time I might have tried to make a deal with the seller.
NAME YOUR IDOL. We’d probably rather not do that. Idol worship could be our biggest sin problem in America. And this is why John said, “Keep yourselves from idols.” If we don’t keep away from idol worship they will keep us away from worshiping the Lord.
CONCLUSION-----------------------
What to do about sin. Why should we do anything at all? What’s so bad about sin? Romans 6:23 “The wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
What’s so bad about sin? Sin is what separates from God. And God couldn’t stand this and this is why He sent to Jesus as a sacrifice for our sins.
It’s time to take a stand against sin. All sin. And even our own sin. We must pray for those caught in sin. We must pray for God to keep us from sin. And we must realize that the world lives in sin and is controlled by the evil one. This is why we must do all we can to war against sin and evil!
