Part of 1 John chapter 5 that I want to focus on is beginning there in verse number 16 where
the Bible reads,
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.
And this morning I want to preach on the subject of a sin unto death.
A sin unto death.
Now many people I believe misread this scripture thinking that it's a specific sin, you know,
and people have asked the question, what is the sin unto death?
But in reality, this is just saying that there is a type of sin that is a sin unto death
and then there are other sins that are not sins unto death.
The Bible says, for example, in verse 17, all unrighteousness is sin.
Anytime we do something that's not right, that's what unrighteousness means.
Anytime we do something that's not right, it's sin.
But there is a sin not unto death, and then at the end of verse 16 it says there is a
sin unto death.
Okay, what does this mean?
Well, if you would, keep your finger there in 1 John 5 and flip over to James 5.
James chapter number 5.
And while you're turning there, I'll read for you a scripture from 1 Corinthians 11
where the Bible reads, for this cause many are weak and sickly among you and many sleep.
For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged, but when we are judged, we
are chastened of the Lord that we should not be condemned with the world.
So the Bible talks about in 1 Corinthians 11, the church at Corinth being chastened
and judged by the Lord and that some of the punishments that were doled out amongst God's
people were that many were sick and weakly, excuse me, many were weak and sickly among
them and others slept, meaning that people had actually died as a result of God's judgment.
Look at James chapter 5 verse 19, the Bible reads, brethren, if any of you do err from
the truth and one convert him, let him know that he which converteth the sinner from the
error of his way shall save a soul from death and shall hide a multitude of sins.
Now go back if you would to 1 John chapter 5, but in all three of these scriptures that
we just looked at, we're talking about believers, okay?
It said in James 5, brethren, if one of you do err from the truth.
In 1 John 5 verse 16 it says, if any man see his brother sin a sin, which is not a sin,
this is talking about your brother in Christ.
These are all admonitions for the saved.
So when we talk about committing a sin unto death, we're talking about a believer, we're
talking about a Christian committing a sin unto death, we're not talking about an unsaved
person.
All three of these examples are dealing with the saved because it says brother in all of
them.
But not only that, I want to make it very clear, this is not talking about losing your
salvation.
It's impossible to lose your salvation.
Jesus said, I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish, neither shall
any man pluck them out of my hand.
The Bible says in John 5, 24, verily, verily, I say to you, he that heareth my word and
believeth on him that sent me hath everlasting life and shall not come into condemnation,
but is passed from death unto life.
Those of us who are saved have been passed from death unto life.
We have eternal life.
We shall never die.
The Bible says that we are sealed with the earnest of the Spirit unto the day of redemption.
He that hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.
I mean we could go on and on and on with literally hundreds of scriptures that teach that once
you are saved, you are always saved.
You have everlasting life, eternal life.
You shall not come into condemnation.
And what will Jesus say to the unsaved on Judgment Day?
Depart from me, I never knew you.
Not I used to know you, I never knew you.
And look who he's saying it to.
People who think they're saved by works.
Lord, Lord, if we not prophesy in thy name and in thy name of cast out devils and in
thy name done many wonderful works, then will I profess unto them I never knew you.
Look, any saved Christian who stands before Christ would not be professing how many works
they did as they're taken into heaven because our taken into heaven is the blood of Jesus.
It's by faith alone.
The Bible says for by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves it
is the gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast.
When you tell people, hey we're saved by faith, they say, oh well faith and works go hand
in hand.
Wrong.
The Bible says not of works.
So don't try to put works in when he said we're saved by faith, not of works.
Don't say well it's faith, no, it's not of works.
The Bible says but to him that worketh not but believeth.
Some people will say well if you believe you'll automatically have works.
And why does the Bible say but to him that worketh not but believeth on him that justifieth
the ungodly.
His faith is counted for righteousness even as David also described it the blessedness
of the man unto whom God impudeth righteous without works saying blessed are they whose
iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered.
Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.
That's what the Bible teaches over and over again.
It's not about losing your salvation.
You say well what is it about?
What is the sin of death?
It's about physically dying.
That's why he said in 1 Corinthians 11 for this cause many are weak and sickly among
you and many sleep for if we would judge ourselves we should not be judged but when we are judged
we're chastened of the Lord.
When he says they sleep he's talking about the fact that they've died physically.
They're asleep in Jesus but they're asleep nonetheless.
They've died physically.
Now go to 1 Corinthians chapter 10.
1 Corinthians chapter number 10.
And again when the Bible talks about a sin unto death the Bible says there is a sin unto
death and then the next verse it says there's a sin not unto death.
So when people try to say that the sin unto death is one specific sin it doesn't make
any sense because when he said there's a sin not unto death that's not one specific sin.
We're talking about two categories of sin right?
He says there is a sin unto death.
There is a sin not unto death.
Sometimes people can commit sin of course and be killed because of the sin that they
commit.
They die physically as a result of the sin that they commit even if they're believers.
And then many other times people who are believers in Christ who are saved, born again, children
of God will commit sin that is a sin not unto death.
They're not necessarily going to die physically or be killed as a result of the sins that
they commit.
Now I'm going to show you many examples of this in the Bible where people in the Bible
committed a sin unto death.
Now I want to start out by pointing this out in 1 Corinthians 10 that the Old Testament
stories are relevant unto us today because a lot of these examples are from the Old Testament.
Some are from the New Testament but a lot are from the Old Testament and a lot of people
when you show them a story from the Old Testament they'll say oh well you know God was different
back then.
He doesn't really do that way anymore.
Well that's not accurate.
The Old Testament is much longer than the New Testament.
If you just look at your Bible where the New Testament starts and compare you'll see that
the Old Testament is much longer.
So there's always going to be a lot more stories and examples from the Old Testament and we
need those stories because look what the Bible says in 1 Corinthians chapter 10 verse 1.
Moreover brethren I couldn't I would not that you should be ignorant how that all our fathers
were under the cloud and all passed through the sea and we're all baptized unto Moses
in the cloud and in the sea and it all eat the same spiritual meat and it all drink the
same spiritual drink for they drank of that spiritual rock that followed them and that
rock was Christ.
Now here's what's funny.
The Apostle Paul is speaking to the Corinthians.
Are we talking Jews or Gentiles?
And you know what he calls the children of Israel?
Our fathers.
Think about that.
Because they're our spiritual fathers.
Because it's not about flesh and blood, it's not about genealogies, it's not about ethnicity
or race.
No.
He says to Gentile Corinthians the children of Israel are our fathers.
All our fathers.
Right?
Tell that to these dispensationalists who think oh the Jews are God's children.
No it's believers that are the spiritual sons and daughters of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
But anyway that has nothing to do with the sermon.
But I had to throw that out there.
Look at verse 6 or verse 5 rather.
But with many of them God was not well pleased for they were overthrown in the wilderness.
Now these things were our examples to the intent that we should not lust after evil
things as they also lusted.
So in the Old Testament when the children of Israel crossed the Red Sea with Moses and
the Bible says that many of them were overthrown in the wilderness where God actually killed
people.
If you read Numbers, God killed people in the wilderness and he says that these things
are written as our examples to the intent that we should not lust after evil things
as they also lusted.
What's the Bible telling us?
That we will suffer the same faith that they suffered if we go down the same path that
they went down.
So don't tell me well God has completely changed in the New Testament.
Well no, this is saying that we need to look at those stories of sins unto death in the
Old Testament and be admonished in the New Testament.
The Bible says in verse 7,
So in this case fornication was a sin unto death for these people because God killed
23,000 in one day, 24,000 total.
Look at verse 9.
Neither murmur ye as some of them also murmured and were destroyed of the destroyer.
Now all these things happen unto them for in samples and they are written for our admonition
upon whom the ends of the world are come.
Look those of us now in the end of the world are to look to these as an example.
Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.
Go back to Joshua chapter 7.
The first example of a sin unto death that I want to show you is the story of Achan in
Joshua chapter 7.
And the reason I want to go to this story first is because I feel that it really ties
in well with the scripture in 1 John chapter 5.
Now the story of Achan goes like this, Joshua and the children of Israel are in the process
of conquering the promised land and the first battle that they had was the battle of Jericho.
This is where they marched around the city seven times, sounded the trumpets and the
walls came crashing down and God delivered them into their hand.
So they're coming off of this great victory and they go to fight against Ai and they suffer
a terrible defeat at the hands of Ai and they don't understand what the problem is.
God's with us.
We just won this great victory in Jericho.
Why did we fail at Ai?
Look at verse 6.
And Joshua rent his clothes, meaning he tore his clothes, he ripped them, and fell to the
earth upon his face before the ark of the Lord until the eventide.
He and the elders of Israel had put dust upon their heads and Joshua said, alas, oh Lord
God, wherefore has thou at all brought this people over Jordan to deliver us into the
hand of the Amorites to destroy us?
Would to God we'd been content and dwelt on the other side Jordan, oh Lord, what shall
I say when Israel turneth their backs before their enemies?
For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land shall hear of it and shall environ
us round and cut off our name from the earth.
And what wilt thou do unto thy great name?
And the Lord said unto Joshua, get thee up, wherefore liest thou upon thy face?
Israel hath sinned and they have also transgressed my covenant that I commanded them.
For they have even taken of the accursed thing and have also stolen and assembled also and
they have put it even among their own stuff.
Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies but turn their
backs before their enemies because they were accursed.
Neither will I be with you anymore except you destroy the accursed from among you.
Now the reason I feel like this story ties in well with 1 John chapter 5 is that in 1
John chapter 5 it says this, 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 in this situation Achan had committed a sin unto death because of the fact that
Joshua is praying and what does God tell Joshua when he's praying?
Get up off your face.
What are you doing praying?
You need to deal with this sin, you need to deal with this issue.
And so this was a sin unto death and that's why he's told don't pray for it, deal with
it.
Now this also reminds me of the story in 1 Corinthians chapter number 5 where there's
a man who's committing fornication and such fornication as is not so much as named among
the Gentiles that one should have his father's wife, right?
So here's a guy who's committing this sin openly.
The Bible says it was reported commonly among them.
Everybody knew that this guy in the church is sleeping with his father's wife, okay?
And what does Paul say there?
Put away from among yourselves that wicked person.
He said deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh that the spirit
may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
See in that situation prayer was not going to fix the problem, was it?
He didn't say hey pray for this guy.
No he said that you need to put away from among yourselves that wicked person.
You need to deal with the issue, okay?
So some sins go beyond the bounds of just oh pray for people.
Now when people commit a sin that's not unto death, not the type of sin that will kill
them or cause them to be killed or cause God's wrath to be on them in such a way that they
would be killed, you know, we need to pray for people and intercede for them and ask
God to be merciful to them.
But when there's a sin that's unto death, very serious grave sin, then you know we need
to deal with the problem.
You know a person who's committing the sins listed in 1 Corinthians 5 that are so heinous,
you know that person needs to be thrown out of the church the Bible even teaches.
And the Bible talks about people needing to be punished and people needing to be dealt
with that are committing serious major sins.
Now there's a real popular doctrine out there in the past few decades that says that all
sin is equal.
And it's one of these things that just kind of rolls off the tongue for people and it
just sounds really logical and good to them when they say hey you know we see sin as being
big sin, little sin, but to God all sin's equal.
But that's a lie.
It's a fraud because there's no such teaching in the Bible.
In fact the Bible teaches there's a sin unto death, there's a sin not unto death.
Jesus told Pilate, he that delivered me unto you hath the greater sin.
He talked about the Pharisees devouring widows' houses and for a pretense making long prayer.
He said therefore shall they receive the greater damnation.
How could you have greater sin, greater damnation, sin unto death, sin not unto death if all
sin's equal?
Because all sin's not equal.
That's why God gives different punishments for different crimes, different punishments
for the sins that are willful sins versus sins of ignorance.
They're both sin but one of them is worse than the other.
And I could go on and on, that's a whole sermon in and of itself.
But this was a sin unto death.
Go to Acts chapter 5, there's a similar story in Acts chapter 5.
Similar to the story of Achan in the sense that it has to do with stealing, it had to
do with money.
But in Acts chapter 5 basically Ananias and Sapphira have lied unto the church.
They claim that they sold a piece of land and that they brought all the money to give
to the church.
So basically they're looking for praise of men and accolades, hey look what we've done.
We gave all our money to the church.
But they really didn't give all of it, they kept back part of it.
Now they were not obligated to give all their money to the church in the first place.
But they lied though and said that they did and then so now it becomes an issue of whether
they did or not.
And so God wants these people to be punished for their sin.
So it says in verse number 3, but Peter said, Ananias, why has Satan filled thine heart
to lie to the Holy Ghost and to keep back part of the price of the land?
Walls that remained, was it not thine own?
And after it was sold, was it not of thine own power?
He said, yeah, you could have done whatever you wanted with that money.
But why did you conceive this thing in your heart?
And he says at the end of verse 4, thou hast not lied unto men but unto God.
And Ananias hearing these words fell down and gave up the ghost and great fear came
on all them that heard these things.
And the young men arose, wound them up and carried them out and buried them and it was
about the space of three hours after when his wife, not knowing what was done, came
in.
You say, why his wife come three hours later?
Because she's getting ready.
And she said it was going to be five minutes but it turned out she shows up three hours
later.
It says in verse 8, And Peter answered unto her, Tell me whether you sold the land for
so much?
And she said, Yea, for so much.
Then Peter said unto her, How is it that you have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of
the Lord?
Behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door and shall carry
thee out.
Then fell she down straightway at his feet and yielded up the ghost.
And the young man came in and found her dead and carrying her forth buried her by her husband.
And great fear came upon all the church and upon as many as heard these things.
Now don't tell me, oh, God wasn't like that in the New Testament like he was in the Old
Testament.
Well, here's an example where he was like that.
Not everybody died immediately in the Old Testament either.
Lots of people in the Old Testament committed sins and didn't die immediately.
Look at the book of Job.
They talk about that for chapters on end.
But the bottom line is, sometimes God will step in and he will take someone's life.
Not always.
We don't always understand his choices.
But in his wisdom, he will choose to in certain situations end someone's life right there
for committing a sin unto death.
Old Testament or New Testament, he'll do it.
Now some people would say, well, these people weren't saved.
But you know, we don't have any indication that Achan and Ananias and Sapphira were not
saved.
I'm assuming that they were saved based on the context of the story.
There's no indication that they weren't.
But here's a guy who was for sure saved where God took him out.
Look at King Saul, 1 Samuel 28.
1 Samuel chapter 28, here's a man where there's no doubt that he was saved.
You say, well, why do you say that, Pastor Anderson?
Well, first of all, God handpicked this man to be the king over Israel for a reason.
Because he was a godly man.
Not only that, but the Bible talks about God giving him a new heart, you know, which
has to do with salvation.
The Bible talks about him being changed into another man, which has to do with, you know,
being a new creature, being saved.
Not only that, but if you read the story right here, the Bible talks about the fact that
he's going to go to heaven when he dies.
Look if you would at 1 Samuel 28 verse 18.
This is Samuel speaking unto Saul.
Because thou obeyest not the voice of the Lord, nor executest his fierce wrath upon
Amalek, therefore hath the Lord done this thing unto thee this day.
Moreover, the Lord will also deliver Israel with thee into the hand of the Philistines,
and tomorrow shalt thou and thy sons be with me.
The Lord also shall deliver the host of Israel into the hand of the Philistines.
Now when Samuel says to him, tomorrow shalt thou and thy sons be with me, you have to
understand, Samuel has come back from the dead to speak to him.
Just his spirit has come and spoken to him.
So when he says, you're going to be with me tomorrow, he means you're going to be dead
tomorrow.
But not only that, we know that Samuel is in heaven, he's with the Lord.
He's not in hell.
So he says to Saul, you're going to be with me tomorrow.
Meaning you're going to die and you're going to go and be with the Lord.
You say, well why is that a punishment?
Well because look, we're all going to die physically, you know, unless we make it unto
the second coming of Jesus Christ, we're all going to die physically on this earth.
And if we're saved, we're all going to heaven.
But here's the thing, there's a loss of reward associated with not finishing the work that
God gave you to do on this earth.
And the more work that we do for the Lord, the more glory we're going to share with him
throughout, you know, the millennial reign of Christ.
And the more rewards we're going to earn and so forth.
And you know, obviously, dying an untimely death is not something that any of us want
to do.
I mean, who here knows for sure if you died that you'd go to heaven?
Put up your hand.
All right, who wants to take the next train out?
You know, pretty much, you know, almost no one.
Right?
Most, you know, most of us want to stay here.
And you know, some people like the Apostle Paul might say, I have a desire to depart
and to be with Christ, which is far better.
But honestly, most of us would rather stay here and do work for God.
We want to live our lives.
We want to raise our children.
We want to serve the Lord.
We want to accomplish something.
We don't want it just to be over, the race to be over.
We want to keep running.
And so that's what the Bible is teaching here when he tells them, tomorrow shalt thou and
thy sons be with me.
If you read the story, guess what happens tomorrow?
They all get killed in battle, him and his sons, which I believe that he was saved and
I believe that his sons were all saved.
There's no indication otherwise.
They're all worshiping the Lord.
They all seem to be believers and with Saul there's zero doubt that he was saved.
But let's flip over to 1 Chronicles chapter 13 and see another example of a believer who
commits a sin unto death.
This would be the example of Uzzah.
Now Uzzah is not really a super well-known Bible character, but this is the guy who puts
forth his hand to steady the ark so that it doesn't tip over.
But here's the problem.
Nobody was supposed to touch the ark except the Levites.
So what happened was, instead of carrying the ark on their shoulders like they were
supposed to, the Levites were supposed to use those rods that came out of the ark and
carry it on their shoulders, they decided to get a little more modern with it.
So they built a new cart and they put it on a wheeled cart and they pulled the ark on
a cart and they said, oh this is so much better, you know, why didn't God think of this?
Except it turned out it wasn't a better idea.
Because what happened was the oxen stumbled, the oxen that are pulling the cart, and by
the way, human beings are more coordinated than oxen.
You know, they're less likely to stumble, you know, especially if they're wearing the
right footwear, okay?
So basically they stumble and the ark is tipping and it's going to fall over.
So Uzzah gets nervous to see this, you know, important object, the ark of the covenant
crash and so he reaches out to steady it with his hand and he dies because he committed
that sin.
Not only that, but the men of Beth Shemesh later, you know, they, or I'm sorry, previously,
look into the ark.
They decide to open it and see what's inside and they die because they open the ark and
look inside and they're killed, that was a sin unto death.
But Uzzah here commits a sin unto death, look at verse seven, and they carried the ark of
God in a new cart out of the house of Amminadab and Uzzah and Ahio drove the cart and David
and all Israel played before God with all their might and with singing and with harps
and with salt trees and with timbrels and with cymbals and with trumpets.
And when they came unto the threshing floor of Kaidon, Uzzah put forth his hand to hold
the ark, I'm sorry, Uzzah put forth his hand to hold the ark for the oxen stumbled and
the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah and he smote him because he put his
hand to the ark and there he died before God.
And David was displeased because the Lord had made a breach upon Uzzah, wherefore the
place is called Perez-Uzzah to this day.
Get out of that seat and let him sit down now.
Excuse me, my children are acting up.
Sit down, stop that.
Everyone who has children understands.
All right, and then it says in verse 11, and David was displeased because the Lord had
made a breach upon Uzzah, wherefore that place is called Perez-Uzzah to this day.
And David was afraid of God that day saying, how shall I bring the ark of God home to me?
So again, we see the fear of God coming upon the people when they see someone commit a
sin unto death and we see a person perish for their sin right then and there, just like
in the story with Ananias and Sapphira in the New Testament.
Now here's another great example.
You're in 1 Chronicles.
Go to 2 Chronicles chapter 35.
I'll read for you from 2 Kings 23 verse 29 where the Bible reads, in his days, Pharaoh
Necho king of Egypt went up against the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates and king
Josiah went against him and he slew him at Megiddo when he had seen him.
Now in 2 Kings we don't get a lot of detail.
We just see Josiah going out to fight against Pharaoh Necho and Josiah ends up getting killed
in the battle.
That's all it tells us.
But in 2 Chronicles we get much more detail.
Look at verse 20 of chapter 35.
After all this, when Josiah had prepared the temple, Necho king of Egypt came up to fight
against Carchemish by Euphrates and Josiah went out against him.
But he sent ambassadors to him saying, what have I to do with thee, thou king of Judah?
I come not against thee this day, but against the house wherewith I have war.
For God commanded me to make haste.
For bear thee from meddling with God.
Who is with me that he destroy thee not?
Nevertheless Josiah would not turn his face from him, but disguised himself that he might
fight with him.
And hearken not in the words of Necho, from the mouth of God and came to fight in the
valley of Megiddo.
And the archers shot at king Josiah and the king said to his servants, have me away for
I am sore wounded.
His servants therefore took him out of the chariot, out of that chariot and put him in
the second chariot that he had.
And they brought him to Jerusalem and he died and was buried in one of the sepulchres of
his fathers and all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah.
Now this is a little bit different of a story in the sense that God did not supernaturally
intervene to bring his death, okay, but he died in battle, sort of like with king Saul
where Saul died in battle, but God told him it's a result of your disobedience that you're
going to die in battle.
Now in this story we see first of all Josiah violating a biblical principle and that biblical
principle is not to meddle with strife not belonging to you.
Do not get involved in fights that do not concern you.
You don't have to just get in every battle and take sides in every war.
You know, would somebody explain this to the people that are running our government, please?
That we don't have to take sides in every conflict that's going on across the world,
but that rather we should not meddle with strife not belonging to us?
But the Bible here is telling a story about how the king of Egypt is fighting against
the king of Assyria.
Nothing to do with Israel.
Josiah decides to side with Assyria for whatever reason and to go against the king of Egypt.
Pharaoh Nico warns him and actually God is using Pharaoh Nico to warn him.
In fact, the words that Pharaoh speaks are actually coming from the mouth of God, the
Bible says.
God's using Pharaoh Nico to prophesy this to him and to tell him, you need to stay out
of this.
God told me, God told me that I should go fight against the Assyrians, you know.
And for some reason, sometimes God will use men like the king of Egypt to go carry out
his will.
Just like he used Nebuchadnezzar to carry out his will and Nebuchadnezzar and the captain
of his host, Nebuchadnezzar Adan, they both knew that they were doing God's will.
I mean when they showed up, they told it to Jeremiah.
You're here because you've sinned against the Lord, you know.
God had revealed that to them.
And so God has revealed things unto Pharaoh Nico and Josiah refuses to listen to God's
word at the mouth of Pharaoh Nico and he's also violating a scriptural principle that
he should have known.
Now let me say this, Josiah is one of the greatest men in the Bible.
He is one of the greatest Old Testament characters.
When you study the life of Josiah, I mean, he was not just a good king.
He was an excellent king.
He was the greatest king since David, okay, the man after God's own heart.
Very godly man, very righteous man, but even he could commit a sin unto death.
You know, God could have protected him in the battle, right?
Even though he made a mistake, God could have protected him, but God chose to allow him
to be killed as a result of his sin, okay?
Now obviously Josiah is in heaven, he was a righteous, godly man, you know, he loved
the Lord.
No question about the fact that he worshipped the Lord and him only.
He did not go after other gods or anything like that, he's definitely a believer, but
even he, when he went out to the wrong battle, could get himself killed.
Now I think that this example right here is an example where, you know, I don't even think
God stepped in supernaturally whatsoever.
I think with Saul, God was with the hand of the Philistines to defeat Saul because God
said, you know, I'm going to kill you tomorrow with the Philistines as my instrument.
Whereas in this story, I think that sin had its own built-in consequence.
You know, he went out to a battle that was not sanctioned by the Lord and he got killed
because people often die in battle, don't they?
And this brings up another subject when it comes to the sin unto death because most of
what we talked about here is where God in heaven decides to bring death unto a believer
because of their sins, basically to just take them out, take them home, they're done.
But you know what, there's also, I believe, an application when the Bible talks about
the sin unto death, I also believe that a sin unto death can just be a sin that physically
gets you killed, even without God's intervention.
That's a sin unto death, and what is praying for that person going to do if they're killing
themselves with sin?
Sin often brings sin.
Now I think a great example of this is in Proverbs chapter 6 with the sin of adultery,
you know, being a sin that can lead to death.
Now first of all, back in the Old Testament in the nation of Israel, adultery was punished
by the death penalty.
So that's definitely a sin unto death where you go out and commit a sin and then, you
know, you're being arrested and executed, you know, under the Old Testament laws, unlike
our United States law which basically says, hey, adultery's fine.
Which is wicked, by the way, it should be against the law.
But in Proverbs 6, the Bible talks about another way that adultery can be a sin unto death.
Look at verse 27, the Bible says, Can a man take fire in his bosom and his clothes not
be burned?
Can one go upon hot coals and his feet not be burned?
So he that goeth into his neighbor's wife whosoever toucheth her shall not be innocent.
Man do not despise a thief if he steal to satisfy his soul when he's hungry.
But if he be found, he shall restore sevenfold.
He shall give all the substance of his house, but whoso committeth adultery with a woman
lacketh understanding.
He that doeth it destroyeth his own soul.
A wound and dishonor shall he get and his reproach shall not be wiped away, for jealousy
is the rage of a man.
Therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance.
He will not regard any ransom, neither will he rest content, though thou givest many gifts.
The Bible's talking about here committing adultery with another man's wife can often
lead to you being killed because of the jealous rage of that husband.
Now he talks about here getting a wound, getting dishonor, but it can also lead unto death
because he will not spare in the day of vengeance.
You can't even placate him with gifts or bribes or try to talk him down.
You know, I had a friend where his wife, he caught her in adultery in the very act.
And he, you know, he walked in on her with a strange man and he ended up grabbing this
guy who was not wearing any clothing and hurling him through the front window of the house.
And as you can imagine, this isn't like the movies, you know, where people just get thrown
through a window and they're unharmed, you know, like these old westerns or whatever
where they're breaking bottles and breaking windows and nobody gets hurt.
You know, in real life, if you get thrown through a window, you're very likely, especially
if it's that single pane kind of glass, very likely to be killed.
So this man thrown nude through a front window was lacerated and sliced up and, you know,
he was beaten and thrown through the window and he was taken to the emergency room, he
was taken to the intensive care unit and he survived but he barely survived.
And it was, you know, thank God he survived because otherwise, you know, my friend could
have been in trouble with the law, you know, whereas because he survived, it wasn't as
big of a deal, you know, since it was understood that he caught this guy, you know, violating
his wife.
So yeah, he was thrown through the window, I mean, that was a good friend of mine.
And so that goes to show you how this can be a sin unto death.
You know, there have been other stories that didn't end that way where the guy gets thrown
through the window and he's dead or the guy is beaten or shot or whatever because of the
fact that he, you know, committed adultery with his neighbor's wife.
You know, that's something to think about right there, you know, that adultery is a
very wicked sin.
You know, we shouldn't even think about doing it just because of the fear of God but here's
another aspect to it, man might kill you if you commit that kind of sin.
Obviously murder, you know, do I even need to prove that from the Bible, that murder
can be a sin unto death, you know, you murdered someone, you're very likely to be murdered
as well or killed as well or executed or even just the slayer, what's it called, the revenger
of blood, you know, will come and get you as the Bible says.
But not only that, if you think about other sins that kind of have their own built-in
consequences, flip over you would to Proverbs chapter 10, but what about gluttony?
You know, there are people who shave years off their life by eating junk food, by not
taking care of what they eat.
How about laziness, slothfulness, you know, people who are just lazy and sedentary, you
know, they are shaving years off their life.
They will look, people will die young from heart disease and from cancer and different
things.
Now you say, well, I can get those things anyway.
Yeah, but you're more likely to get them if you're gluttonous and lazy than if you're
eating nutritious food and working six days a week, you're less likely to have those problems
than if you're sitting on a couch all day.
Now another aspect of this could be smoking.
You know, smoking has been proven to shave years off of people's lives because of lung
cancer, emphysema and other diseases.
So this can be a sin that can lead to your death, even without God stepping in and getting
enraged.
But what about fornication, you know, the sin of fornication?
Now we saw in 1 Corinthians 10 that fornication could be a sin unto death in the sense that
God did cause people to lose their lives in the Old Testament because of fornication.
But how about just the diseases that you could pick up through fornication?
You know, and it's not just AIDS, but AIDS is a major disease that harms people and can
even lead to their death.
Now even though AIDS started out as being 100%, in the early 80s in the United States,
the only people who had AIDS were homosexuals.
And you know, people will lie about that and try to act like that didn't happen.
That's why I put together that video, the AIDS, the Judgment of God video, because I
showed just all the news clips, I mean just clip after clip after clip after clip where
all the Tom Brokaw's and Dan Rather's and all the news people back in the early 80s
are calling it a gay cancer and saying everybody who has it is a homosexual.
You know, when it first came out, you know, hey we got 60 cases of it.
They're all sodomites, they're all homos.
Why?
Because of their filthy lifestyle and spreading it in the bath houses of San Francisco and
New York.
That's where it started in this country, period.
That's fact.
And you say, well, but there's all these straight people that have it.
Right.
That's because of the fact that number one, these bunch of filthy sodomites go both ways
and spread it to the straight people.
And number two, many people have got to throw a blood transfusion, you know, from one of
these freaks or, you know, however else they could come into contact.
But the bottom line is that if you commit fornication today, even if you're not a filthy
sodomite, if you commit fornication today, you can pick up all manner of diseases through
fornication.
And in fact, I saw a statistic not too long ago that 25% of the population of the city
of New York City is infected with STDs.
Think about that.
25%.
Okay.
So that means some young person in New York City who says, hey, I'm going to go out and
sow my wild oats has a one in four chance of picking up an STD.
But I'll take it step further.
They have a much more than one in four chance because the type of people that you're going
to run into at these type of bars and nightclubs and partying and in the college campus are
much more likely to be the one out of four, you know, than the people who are not living
that lifestyle.
See, the three out of four are the type of people that are going to slap you in the face,
you know, when you try to commit fornication and so forth.
So the bottom line is that today the population of the United States is filled with STDs through
promiscuity, period.
It didn't just come by osmosis.
It's not just an accident.
No, it's the lifestyle in New York City.
It's the lifestyle in Los Angeles, California.
It's the lifestyle anywhere where people are committing fornication, adultery, and this
type of lewd behavior, they spread disease.
It's a judgment of God.
The Bible teaches it clearly.
And look, there are even straight people who pick up AIDS.
I mean, think about all the famous people who got AIDS who claimed they were straight
and everybody who knew them said that they were straight, but yet they picked up AIDS
because they're with somebody who's been with somebody who's been with somebody who's been
with somebody who's a sodomite, who gave it to them, you know, and they spread this
junk around.
And so we need to realize that there is a consequence to our actions and that when lust
hath conceived it bringeth forth sin and sin when it's finished bringeth forth death.
There are two kinds of death.
There's spiritual death, as in going to hell, and then there's physical death where you
just physically die.
Now God told Adam and Eve that in the day that they eat of the forbidden fruit that
they will surely die.
But they didn't die physically, they died spiritually, okay?
Now we that are saved, we cannot die spiritually because he that overcometh shall not be heard
of the second death.
Who is he that overcometh the world but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?
So we can't be heard of that second death, but can we be killed physically on this earth?
Absolutely.
You think God's going to miraculously cause that junk food that you're eating all the
time to not harm you?
You think God's going to just miraculously perform a miracle and you sit on the couch
all day but he's just going to make your arteries get bigger and pump blood better?
You think he's just going to make your heart beat better as you sit on the couch and watch
TV and collect a welfare check and eat bon-bons just because you're saved?
It's just going to be fix everything.
You think that God is going to look down from heaven and see you, a believer in Jesus Christ,
a born-again child of God, commit adultery and he's going to protect you from the rage
of that man who comes to kill you?
Probably not.
He's probably going to step back and allow you to suffer the consequence for your actions
in that situation.
You think you're just going to smoke and God's just going to miraculously heal your lungs
every day as you smoke cigarettes, as you smoke weed, as you destroy your body through
laziness, gluttony, drugs, cigarettes, alcohol, fornication?
Look, you're destroying yourself.
It's like God said in the book of Isaiah, he said, O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself.
So when we talk about a sin unto death, it's not a big mystery because the Bible gives
us plenty of examples of a sin unto death.
A lot of people make a mystery, you know, what's the sin unto death?
What's he talking about?
Because they misunderstand it that it's a specific sin.
Well, just as much as the sin not unto death is not a specific sin, there's a sin unto
death, there's a sin not unto death.
Okay?
Sin can bring physical death to our lives, number one, through God's wrath.
You make God mad enough, he'll just end your life.
You push things too far, it could get to the part where you're harming the cause of Christ
more than you're helping the cause of Christ because Jesus said, he that gathereth not
with me scattereth abroad.
So if God looks down and says, wow, you're doing more to hinder the Gospel than to preach
the Gospel, he might just decide to bring you home because you're, you know, you're
doing more damage than good at that point.
Even if your boss sent you out on a job and you're breaking stuff and you're not making
it easy, just come back to the shop, right?
And why are we on this earth?
To sit or to serve?
God has us here to work.
So if God looks down and we're breaking stuff and we're not getting the job, he says,
just come back to the shop.
But here's the problem with coming back to the shop.
When you're sent home early, you don't get the full paycheck, do you?
Same thing.
One last verse for you, Proverbs chapter 10 and verse number 27, just to sum things
up, the fear of the Lord prolongeth days.
And this isn't saying that you're going to have 25 hours in your day.
You know, when the Bible says the fear of the Lord prolongeth days, it's saying you're
going to have more days.
That thy days may be long on the earth, the Bible says.
He says the fear of the Lord prolongeth days, but the years of the wicked shall be shortened.
So if you want to live a long life, then be careful not to commit sin that leads unto
death.
Stay away from the sin unto death, okay?
And be sure that you, number one, sin as little as possible.
Number two, don't sin willfully.
And you know, number three, don't do the specific things that God gives us a ton of examples
of him killing people.
Those are just a rule of thumb, stay away from those sins especially, okay?
Those are examples unto us upon whom the ends of the world are come.
Let's bow your heads and have a word of prayer.
Father, we thank you so much for salvation, Lord, and we thank you for the forgiveness
of sins through the blood of your Son, Jesus Christ, but Lord, we pray that you would please
spare those in our church, Lord, that would be prone unto the sin that leads unto death,
Lord.
to commit these awful sins, Lord, because I would pray for all of us here that you would
allow us, by your grace, to live a long life.
And actually, if it would be your will, Lord, and if we're living in that generation, I
pray that myself, my family, and also that the members of Faithful Word Baptist Church
would be able to be alive and remain all the way until you come in the clouds, Lord.
That would be a very exciting thing to be alive for, Lord, and to not even see death,
even in the physical sense, Lord.
We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed.
And so I pray, Lord, that you would help the sermon to sink down into our ears and that
it would cause us to evaluate our lives and to get the sin out of our lives.
In Jesus' name we pray, amen.