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Alright, now the part of the chapter that I wanted to focus on there in 1 John chapter 5 is beginning 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 what I want to preach about this morning is the fact that not all sin is equal. Now there are many people out there who teach that all sin is equal in God's eyes and they say you know we as human beings, we make a distinction between one sin being worse than another or a big sin and a little sin, but in God's eyes all sin is equal. Who's ever heard that taught before? Pretty much every single hand in the book. I grew up being taught that, I've heard that my whole life, people are constantly saying that to me and I'm here to tell you it is simply not biblical. And I have here nine concrete reasons why all sin is not equal according to the Bible. But not only that, under each of these points I have many scriptures to back up that point. So I mean there's just a huge amount of scripture that teaches us that not all sin is equal. First of all, right there where you're looking in 1 John the Bible clearly says that all unrighteousness is sin, isn't it? Anything that we do that's not right is sin. Earlier in the book of 1 John the Bible defines sin as the transgression of the law. He says whosoever committed sin transgresseth also the law for sin is the transgression of the law. And the Bible says in verse 17 all unrighteousness is sin and there is a sin not unto death. In verse 16 he said if any man see his brother's sin as 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 let me ask you this. If all sin is equal then why does the Bible here make a distinction between a sin that's unto death and a sin that's not unto death? And let me ask you this, are we talking about unsaved people or saved people committing these sins according to verse 16? The saved. He says if any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death. Okay let me ask you this, is the sin unto death and the sin not unto death something that we can identify from the outside or is it something where God only knows the heart? No we can see it because he says if any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death versus seeing your brother sin a sin which is unto death, look we can see sins from the outside and we can determine hey that's a sin unto death, that is not a sin unto death. How then can all sin be equal in God's eyes if God's telling us that there are two different types of sins here? Now before I get into my nine reasons here, biblically wise all sin is not equal, go to James chapter 2. I'm going to show you because you know I've read the Bible cover to cover many scores of times and I just I couldn't find this doctrine that says that all sin is equal. And yet you hear it taught so often you think to yourself surely there must be something in the Bible that says something that sounds like all sin is equal. The closest thing that I've been able to find and maybe you can if you can think of something else tell me after the service, but the closest thing I've been able to find to teaching that all sin is equal is James 2.10. That's the closest thing I could find because I looked throughout the whole Bible and it's just so unbiblical I'm just wondering where this is coming from. But in James chapter 2 verse 10 the Bible reads for whosoever shall keep the whole law and yet offend in one point he is guilty of all. So people will look at this verse that says that if I keep the whole law and yet offend in one point I'm guilty of all to say that all sin is equal. Now first of all let me ask you this, does that verse say that all sin is equal? No it doesn't. So whenever we decide what we believe we should always base it on very clear scripture, okay? And this is not a clear scripture teaching that all sin is equal and in fact if we get the context of the verse before it and the verse after it, it becomes apparent what God is expressing in this verse. You see you can always take verses out of context and make them mean whatever you want. For example let me give you a verse out of context, are you ready for this? Here's a verse out of context, you don't have to turn there because you don't want to get the context, I'm giving it to you out of context, okay? Isaiah 66 verse 3, he that killeth an ox is as if he slew a man. Now look, that's totally out of context, right? So if I take that out of context where it says he that killeth an ox is as if he slew a man, I could get up and teach you, you know, killing an ox, killing a cow is just as bad as killing a man. And I have literally seen vegans and vegetarians point out this verse, I'm not kidding, and say well it says in Isaiah that killing an ox is just as bad as killing a man, okay? You see how you can just take things out of context and teach false doctrine? Who here thinks that killing an ox is just as bad as killing a man? In fact God commanded oxen to be killed many times throughout the Bible, okay? God commanded people to kill oxen and to sacrifice them unto the Lord and eat the meat and so on and so forth. But you know if you read the rest of the verse, he says he that killeth an ox is as if he slew a man. He that sacrificed the lamb is as if he cut off a dog's neck. He that offereth an oblation is as if he offered swine's blood. He that burneth incense is as if he blessed an idol, yea they have chosen their own ways and their soul delighteth in their abominations. God's just saying that he's so upset with people even when they do it right, even when they do right they're doing it wrong. And if you read the whole chapter it makes perfect sense. But what I'm saying is when you take a verse out of context, yeah you can use it to teach what you want to teach, but if we look at a lot of scripture it's going to be real clear that God does not consider all sin equal. But let's get the context of James 2 10 there. Look at verse 9, it says, but if ye have respect to persons ye commit sin and are convinced of the law as transgressors, for whosoever shall keep the whole law and yet offend in one point he is guilty of all. For he that said do not commit adultery said also do not kill, now if thou commit no adultery, but if thou kill thou art become a transgressor of the law. So what the Bible is teaching in this scripture is that everyone is a sinner, okay? Everyone is a transgressor of the law, everyone has sinned, and just because we haven't committed this sin or we, you know, I haven't killed anybody or I haven't committed adultery, even though there are some sins that we have not committed, that does not change the fact that we are still a transgressor of the law, we are still a sinner in God's eyes, we are still condemned. But nothing in verse 10 says that all sin is equal. Now I'm going to give you nine reasons why all sin is not equal. Go to John chapter 19. Now eight of my reasons are biblical, but let me first give you my extra biblical reason why all sin is not equal. Number one, common sense should tell you that all sin is not equal. And you say, well that doesn't matter, that's not Bible. But hold on a second. God did give us a brain, okay? And God does tell us, you know, that we should reason together and obviously God gave us wisdom and a mind and He gave us the law of God written in our hearts and it should be obvious to any sane person, I didn't say saved person, I said it should be obvious to any sane person that all sin is not equal, just based upon common sense alone. And then when I have eight other concrete biblical reasons to back up what my common sense is telling me, you know, that just tells me that I was right when I said all sin is not equal. Because let me tell you this, anyone who believes that murdering someone is equivalent to stealing a pencil is borderline insane. I mean anybody who told you, you know what, it's just as bad to show up late to work as to show up to work with a machine gun and start mowing people down because you know what, they're both sin. The Bible commands you to be obedient to your masters according to the flesh. The Bible commands you not to be slothful in your labor and you must be on time to work in order to be right with God because God commands you to obey and the boss wants you there on time, you get there on time, but since all sin is equal and God, we might think it's worse to show up with a machine gun and start mowing people down, but in God's eyes all sin is equal and getting there late is just as bad. I mean to say that is bizarre, it's ludicrous, it's madness, it's insanity and you know what, it makes Christianity look stupid when we teach this kind of garbage that makes absolutely no sense and is also not biblical and any sane, irrational person would look at that and say, no, that doesn't make any sense. It doesn't make any sense to teach that murder and adultery and robbery are just as bad as, you know, petty theft, you know, or taking a pencil home from work is the same as grand theft auto because the size doesn't matter. But hold on a second. It's not biblical because look at John chapter 19 verse 10. So number one, my first reason is just common sense. I mean I can't even understand how anybody could even believe that and even say that with a straight face that all sin is equal, but yet every person in the room held their hand up that said that they've heard that, Todd. Look at verse 10 of John 19, then saith Pilate unto him, speakest thou not unto me, knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee and have power to release thee? Jesus answered, thou couldest have no power at all against me except it were given thee from above, therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin. Now let me ask you something. If all sin is equal, could there be a greater sin? Absolutely not. So number one, common sense tells us. Number two, the Bible teaches that there are greater sins and lesser sins. And here, Pilate, by delivering Jesus unto the Jews, I'm sorry, delivering Jesus unto death, was committing less of a sin than the Jews. And we're going to get into later under one of my other points, other greater sins and lesser sins, but here we clearly see that there's a greater sin. Now you know when you do math, you learn about greater than, less than, and equal to, okay? We're talking about a different thing here. Now we have the greater sin, but not only that, we have the greater damnation. Go to Matthew 23, Matthew chapter 23. So number one, we have common sense telling us that obviously some sins are worse than others. Number two, we have the fact that the Bible teaches that there is a greater sin in John 19. But number three, we have the biblical teaching that some people will receive a greater damnation than others. Now if all sin were equal, God would damn all people equally. He would not have a lower hell and a greatest damnation and a greater sin. Look if you look at Matthew 23, 14, it says, woe unto you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you devour widows' houses and for a pretense make long prayer, therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation. You see, devouring widows' houses is a sin, but because they made long prayer as a pretense, that's why they're receiving a greater damnation. Because not only are they committing sin, but they're committing sin in the Lord's name. Therefore they're receiving a greater damnation. Flip over to Deuteronomy chapter 32. Now Deuteronomy 32 is the first place in the Bible where hell is ever mentioned in Deuteronomy chapter 32. While you're turning there, I'll read for you Mark 1240, which devour widows' houses and for a pretense make long prayers. These shall receive greater damnation. Luke 20 verse 47, which devour widows' houses and for a shew make long prayers, the same shall receive greater damnation. Look if you look at Deuteronomy 32, 22, the first mention of hell in the Bible. It says, for a fire is kindled in mine anger and shall burn unto the lowest hell and shall consume the earth with her increase and set on fire the foundations of the mountains. Go to Revelation chapter 20, Revelation chapter 20. So here we see the teaching that there's a greater damnation, mentioned three times. Then we saw the lowest hell in Deuteronomy 32. Again in Psalm 86 13, the Bible reads, for great is thy mercy toward me and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell. Now in order for there to be a lowest hell, wouldn't there have to be a part of hell that is not as low? Or else there couldn't even be a lowest hell. You couldn't even make that comparison. Say well hell's hell. No, there's the lowest hell, okay? There's the greater damnation. Look what it says in Revelation 20 verse 11, and I saw a great white throne and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God and the books were opened and another book was opened which is the book of life and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them. And that was a second time and they were judged, every man, according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire, this is the second death, and whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. Let me ask you this, are all the people whose names not in the book of life going to the lake of fire? Yes they are. Everybody whose name was not in the book of life is going to the lake of fire. But wait a minute, are they still being judged based on their works? Yes. Why? Because one will receive greater damnation than others, that's what Jesus taught. Now if you flip over to chapter 21 verse 8, this is a critical verse because a lot of people teach a false doctrine that says we don't go to hell to be punished for our sins, we only go to hell if we reject the Lord Jesus Christ. Now hold on a minute, it's true that to be saved you must believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and that's all you have to do to be saved. The Bible says what must I do to be saved and they said believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. The Bible says that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have eternal life. And the Bible very clearly teaches that you can't lose your salvation because Jesus said I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. He said verily verily I say to you he that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me has everlasting life and shall not come into condemnation but is passed from death and life. The only thing you have to do to be saved is just believe on Jesus Christ and once you're saved you can never lose your salvation because it is eternal life. Now people will sometimes extrapolate that though and say well the reason that people are going to hell, the only reason that they're going to hell, it's not to be punished for their sins, it's to punish them for not receiving Jesus Christ. Now on the surface that might sound like an innocent mistake or oh what's the big deal, six in one, half dozen, the other. Why split hairs? But it is very important doctrinally to understand that God is sending people to hell because they have sinned, okay? Because they have sinned. Why does a person go to hell? To be punished for their sins. That's why they go to hell. Okay and the Bible is clear. Look at Revelation 21,8. But the fearful and unbelieving and the abominable and murderers and whoremongers and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone which is the second death. Why are these people going to the lake of fire? Because they're fearful, because they're unbelieving, but also because they're murderers, sorcerers, whoremongers, liars. Look why is God even listing all these sins if these sins have nothing to do with why these people are going to hell? Doesn't the Bible say for the wages of sin is death? But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ the Lord? Doesn't that show that the reason people go to hell is because of their sin? It's the penalty for sin. Hell and death in hell is the penalty for their sins. And look the reason why this is so important is because it shows that God is just when He sends any person to hell that does not believe on Jesus Christ. Because a lot of people who have this misunderstanding that thinks, well you just go to hell because you didn't believe on Christ, no they have that misunderstanding therefore they think that well if a person didn't hear about Jesus, they're fine. Right? Have you heard that? Well if they didn't hear a clear presentation of the Gospel, they didn't really reject Christ, they didn't really reject the Gospel, God's not going to send them out. No, God's going to send them out because they lied. Because they stole. Because they killed. Because they committed adultery or whatever they did. You see hell is the punishment for our sins. If we believe on Jesus Christ, all our sins are forgiven and we have a free gift of eternal life. Okay? But the people who go to hell are going there for their sins. Now if people are going to hell because of their sins, doesn't it make sense that there would be a judgment in chapter 20 of what they did wrong, right? At the great white throne, He's going to judge them according to their works, there's going to be a judgment, okay, here's what you did wrong, okay? Here are the rules that you broke, we're going to open the books here, we're going to judge you by your works, and then okay, now you're condemned to the lake of fire. Now if your name were in the book of life, it's all paid for, it's all free. You've believed on Christ, it's all forgiven. But a person who has not believed on Jesus Christ will be condemned to hell for their sins. This is just more evidence that all sin is not equal because different people receive a greater damnation than others. If it was just all equal, it would just be like, okay, if you're a sinner, one punishment fits all. One size fits all. No, there's a judgment specifically of the works according to the things that are written in the books. So number one, and if you would turn to Genesis 13. So number one we saw is that common sense tells us that all sin is not equal. Number two, the Bible tells us there is a greater sin. That proves that all sin is not equal because how could one be greater than another? Number three, the Bible tells us that there's a greater damnation. And then I tied in with the greater damnation, lowest hell, and the great white throne judgment where people are being judged on what they've done and condemned to basically different punishments. Here's another proof out of the mouth of Jesus on the subject of the greater damnation. Luke 12 48 says, but he that knew not and did commit things worthy of stripes shall be beaten with few stripes for unto whomsoever much is given of him shall be much required and to whom men have committed much of him they will ask them more. So Jesus clearly taught there that the servant who knew his Lord's will and did it not is going to be punished worse than the one who did not know his Lord's will, okay? And he's talking about a parable where a guy goes off into a far country and he leaves servants behind or people behind to take care of things and the ones who knew what they were doing was wrong get punished with many stripes and the ones who didn't know that it was wrong, they get punished with few stripes. We'll come back to that, but think about this. Did the people who didn't know just get off the hook? Oh, you guys didn't know? No problem. No, they're still beaten, aren't they? With few stripes. But the people who knew get beaten with many stripes. What is that parable even about? Get the context. The parable is about the nation of Israel versus the Gentiles. Because see, the Jews or the nation of Israel were the ones who knew God's word more than anybody else. They knew the will of the Lord and the Bible says that they would be beaten with more stripes than the one who didn't know, the Gentile who died and would tell. Look, you say, I still don't believe in a greater damnation. Then why did Jesus say to Capernaum and Bethsaida and Chorazin where most of his mighty miracles were done? He said, I say unto you, it shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for thee. Now let me ask you this, if all sin is equal and hell is the same for everybody and everybody gets the same punishment, then why did Jesus say, you Capernaum are going to be punished worse than Sodom. And he said that the day of judgment will be more tolerable for Sodom than for you. Because he said if the mighty works which had been done in thee had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. And so he says, look, the ones who knew God's will and didn't do it are more guilty and receive a greater damnation than those who didn't know. So let me ask you this, is a sin that you commit knowingly worse than a sin that you commit unknowingly? No, no, all sin is equal. But anyway, look down at Genesis 13 verse 13, speaking of Sodom, here's a scripture about Sodom in Genesis 13, 13. The Bible says, but the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord, and what's the last word there? Exceedingly. So we have a group of people here that are not just sinners, but they are sinners exceedingly. Now is everybody in this world a sinner? The Bible says there is not a just man upon the earth that doeth good and sinneth not. And even those of us that are saved, the Bible says if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. And that is what, it's funny, we were out soloning, who was I with, Quinn? Was that us? Me and Quinn were out soloning this week, last week, whenever it was, and we spoke to a guy and he basically, Quinn's showing him the Gospel, and right away the guy starts arguing with Quinn, he was a minister, and right away he started arguing with Quinn saying that he is not a sinner. Now okay, I understand if he's saying, if he's drawing a distinction between the new man and the old man, I get that, but he actually said that he does not sin. He hasn't sinned since he's been saved, and that he does not sin at all. And basically, I showed him the verse that says if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. And then he pulled out his Bible, he wanted to show me some doctrine, and I said whoa, I said I'm not interested in what you have to say, because I said, and I said it very calmly, was I calm and nice to him, I very calmly told him, I said you know what, I said I'm not interested in what you have to say, I said it exactly like I'm saying it now, because I said the Bible says you have no truth in you, okay, because you are saying that you have no sin, and if you say that, the truth is not in you, therefore I'm not interested in what you have to say. And then the guy just, oh, you're just an angry man, you're an angry preacher. It's like, everybody always accused you of being angry just when you tell them something that they don't like. You can smile, you can be calm, you can sit back and relax, but if you say something people don't like, it's like, oh man, he's so angry, so mad all the time. I wasn't mad, I just don't want to hear garbage. I want to hear the truth, and somebody who says that they have no sin, the truth is not in them. Everybody's a sinner, right? But let me ask this, is everybody a sinner before the Lord exceedingly? No they're not. Oh, but all sin, what makes you think that you're better than Saul? Okay, what made God think David was better than Saul? Because he was better than Saul, that's why. And people have this warped view that just says, well, okay, yeah, these people are sinners, these sodomites are sinners, right, but everybody's a sinner. Yeah, but everybody's not a sinner exceedingly. Don't tell me it's all equal. God did not rain fire and brimstone on everybody who ever thought a bad thought or stole a pencil or basically pushed another kid on the playground. He rained fire on Sodom and Gomorrah because they were sinners before the Lord exceedingly. Now if you would flip over to Leviticus while you're in Genesis, go to Leviticus chapter 4. My fifth point is the sin unto death. The Bible talks about there being a sin unto death and a sin not unto death. And the Bible says, if any man see his brother's 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. Now there are people who debate exactly what this means, you know, when it says the sin unto death versus the sin not unto death. They say, you know, well what is the distinction there? You know, I'll be honest with you, I don't really fully know what that distinction is. I'm not sure that I fully understand that verse. But you know, one possible theory would be that somebody is basically committing a sin that is something that God prescribed the death penalty for in the Old Testament law. You know, because the Bible talks about people transgressing the law, but there are certain sins that are, that are sins that would get somebody the death penalty, like for example, you know, murder, adultery, rape, okay, versus sins that were smaller sins, you know, big sins, little sins. But you know, like for example, stealing, and look, I'm not condoning of stealing. And you know, stealing is a pretty big sin and stealing was punished in the Old Testament with paying back four times what you stole or paying back five times what you stole. But should thieves be put to death? No. And the Bible draws a distinction, for example, between first degree murder and second degree murder. The Bible talks about someone lying in wait to commit murder, meaning that they premeditated it, and another person just being delivered into their hand and in the moment they kill them. The Bible draws a distinction where first degree murder is punished by death. Second degree murder is not punished by death. There's a lesser punishment for that, okay. So we see that when the Bible says in the New Testament that we might see our brother's sin as sin which is unto death, okay, I think that's probably what it's referring to. But again, there are a lot of theories on what that could refer to. But whether or not we know 100% sure what that's referring to, we do know one thing. There's a sin unto death and a sin not unto death, and they're not equal to one another. Okay? All unrighteousness is sin, but there's a sin not unto death. There's a lesser sin there. Okay. Here's a big difference in sin here that we find in Leviticus chapter 4 and 5. In Leviticus 4 and 5, we have God's teaching on the person who sins through ignorance. Okay? Look what the Bible says in verse 1 of Leviticus chapter 4. And the Lord spake unto Moses saying, speak unto the children of Israel saying, if a soul sinned through ignorance against any of the commandments of the Lord concerning things which ought not to be done and shall do against any of them, if the priest that is anointed to sin according to the sin of the people, then let him bring for his sin which he hath sinned a young bullock without blemish unto the Lord for a sin offering. Now the first thing I want to point out here is that just because you are ignorant of the commandments of the Lord does not give you an excuse to break the commandments of the Lord, does it? Because what do they offer? A sin offering. So if you're ignorant of what the Bible says and you go out and commit a sin, let's say you do something without even knowing that it was wrong. And I've talked to many people saying, wow, I did that for years. I didn't even know that was wrong. I didn't even know that was a sin. It's still a sin whether you knew it or not. But it's worse when you know it's a sin and you say, I know this is wrong, but I'm going to do it anyway. I mean, that's worse. Okay? Now let's keep reading. The Bible says in verse 13, that the whole congregation of Israel sinned through ignorance and the thing be hid from the eyes of the assembly and they have done somewhat against any of the commandments of the Lord concerning things which should not be done and are guilty. When the sin which they have sinned against is known, then the congregation shall offer a young bullock for the sin and bring him before the tabernacle of the congregation. Look at verse 22. When a ruler has sinned and done somewhat through ignorance against any of the commandments of the Lord, his God concerning things which should not be done, look at this, and is guilty. So you're still guilty even if you're ignorant of what you did. It says, or if he sinned, which he had sinned, come to his knowledge, then he shall bring his offering, a kid of the goats, a female without blemish, for his sin which he had sinned. And he shall lay his hand upon the head of the sin offering and slay the sin offering in the place of the burnt offering. And for sake of time, I'm going to skip some of this because it's very repetitive, but jump down to chapter 5 verse 17. Chapter 5 verse 17. So over and over again, he's listing all these ways and all these people that could sin through ignorance, meaning they didn't know it was a sin. They didn't know what God's commandment was. They did it by accident, but they still did wrong. They still broke his rules. God says they're still in sin. Look at Leviticus 5 verse 17, it says, and if a soul sin and commit any of these things which are forbidden to be done by the commandments of the Lord, though he wist it not, wist means new, though he wist it not, yet is he guilty and shall bear his iniquity. God is saying, look, if you commit a sin, if you break one of God's commandments without knowing it, you are still guilty even if you didn't know it and you will bear your iniquity, meaning you will be punished for the sin you committed through ignorance. Now that tells me I better learn what the Bible says, or I might be committing all kinds of sins through ignorance just because I didn't even know what the Bible said. And so we need to learn the commandments because ignorance is not an excuse. Jump down to, actually go to Numbers chapter 15, Numbers chapter 15. Numbers chapter 15. It says in Numbers 15 verse 29, you shall have one law for him that sinneth through ignorance, both for him that is born among the children of Israel and for the stranger that sojourneth among them. But the soul that doeth ought presumptuously, whether he be born in the land or a stranger, the same reproach that the Lord, and that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Because he hath despised the word of the Lord and have broken his commandment, that soul shall utterly be cut off, his iniquity shall be quantum. Now keep your finger here in Numbers 15. Let's compare this to Hebrews 10 because Hebrews 10 actually refers back to this scripture in Numbers 15. Hebrews chapter 10 refers to this and makes a comparison and makes an analogy here in the New Testament to something that was said in Numbers 15 here. Because the Bible is saying in Numbers 15 here that if somebody sins through ignorance, they're supposed to bring an offering unto the Lord and offer a burnt sacrifice to make it right. That's what Leviticus 4 and 5 teaches. That's what Numbers 15 teaches, okay? But in verse 30 he said, but the soul that doeth ought presumptuously, meaning just purposely, just says, I don't care what the law said. I know that God said no, but I'm going to go ahead and do it anyway. He said that person will be cut off from among his people. So there's a difference there. Bring an offering, get it right, or if you did it on purpose, you're cut off from among your people. Okay? Look what it says in Hebrews chapter 10 verse 25, it says, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another and so much the more as you see the day approaching. For if we sin willfully, after that we have received the knowledge of the truth. There remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fire and indignation which shall devour the adversaries. He that despised Moses' law died without mercy unto two or three witnesses. Now you remember in Numbers 15, it says in verse number 31, because he had despised the word of the Lord. Do you see that? He uses similar wording in chapter 10 of Hebrews where he says that he that despised Moses' law died without mercy unto two or three witnesses. Verse 29, of how much sore punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thou worthy. Now stop right there, soarer punishment, a worse punishment for the one who does something presumptuously rather than through ignorance. One who sins willfully after having received the knowledge of the truth. Meaning it's not that they didn't know it was wrong, they're told it's wrong and they continue in the sin after God has already rebuked it. And he says that it's just a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fire and indignation which shall devour the adversaries. Verse 29, of how much sore punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thou worthy, who had trodden underfoot the Son of God and had counted the blood of the covenant wherewith he was sanctified and unholy thingeth and done despite unto the spirit of grace. You know, basically the one who abuses God's grace and says, well you know what, I'm under grace, right, I'm under grace, so therefore I can do whatever I want. I can live however I want. Now it's true that if we continue in sin, grace will abound. The Bible says where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. And look, you can't lose your salvation. The more we sin, the more of God's grace will cover it. But we should not despise the grace of God. The Bible says, what shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid. He said, look, we'll go there, I forget what he said, go to Romans, I think it's chapter 5, right, Romans chapter 5 that I'm quoting, or 6, Romans chapter 6. Okay, it just came to me what it said, but since I'm having you turn there, we'll look at it anyway. Verse 14, it says, For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under the law but under grace. What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? God forbid. So what he's saying there is, look, at the end of chapter 5 verse 20, he says, Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound, but where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. Look, God's saying, look, we're under grace. We're saved by grace through faith. We're not under the curse of the law. Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law. But does that mean that we should just go out and sin because we're under grace? Hey, we're under grace. Let's go out and sin. He says, God forbid. He said, if you commit sin, you're the servant of sin. You're putting yourself into bondage. Why are you turning in your heart back to Egypt? Why do you want to be a slave to the bottle? Why do you want to be a slave to cigarettes? Why do you want to be a slave to drugs? Why do you want to be a slave to your own sinful lust? Why do you want to be a failure and a loser? Look we're more than conquerors through him that loved us. Why don't we live a life that is worthy of the calling we're with we're called? And not just say, well, I'm under grace so I'm just going to go out and commit sin. And people that are not saved and don't understand the gospel, that's what they say when you try to tell them the gospel. What do you mean? Why would anybody do anything right then? That's what they'll say. Why even go to church? If you're just saved by grace, why even go to church? Look because we love God, because we want to, because we love Jesus and he said if you love me, keep my commandments. They're like, why would you even keep his commandments if you're going to heaven no matter what you do? Because number one, I love him. Number two, I don't want him to tan my hide every day for the rest of my life. I mean that's like saying to my kids, well look, you know they're going to feed you breakfast, lunch and dinner no matter what you do. You know you're still going to be their child. You know you're still going to get the inheritance. Do whatever you want. Yeah, but you're going to get a beating every day, you're going to get spanked. Okay so that's why, there are a lot of reasons to do what's right. Because we don't want to let God down because we love him. We love Jesus, we love his commandments. We don't want to abuse our privilege of being children. But God can even cause people to be brought home early. He can even take your life as a believer, you'll still go to heaven. But like King Saul, he was taken home early. And his descendants after him, most of them were killed and suffered. Most of his sons were all killed and died and went down as failures. So we see here the difference between sinning through ignorance and just purposefully, willfully going out and committing sin because we just despise the grace of God and we just say well you know what? I'm saved. I mean look, people do, I've talked to people who have this attitude. Well I'm saved, I'm going to heaven no matter what, I know it's wrong, but guess what? We're all sinners so I'm just going to do it anyway. You know that makes God very angry when we just abuse our position as children. Instead of saying God we love you, we want to please you, we're so thankful that you saved us, we want to do what's right, we want to be pleasing unto you. Just this attitude that says I don't care what God wants, I'm going to do it my way. That is something that makes God very upset. Look if you would at Psalm 19, Psalm chapter 19 and we'll start in verse 12. Psalm 19, let me do a quick review while you're turning to Psalm 19. First of all we saw that common sense tells us that all sin is not equal. Common sense tells us that murder is worse than lying. I mean if I killed somebody, that would be a really serious issue. If I told a lie, it's sin, it's wrong, I'm not justifying it, but that would not be as serious as if I had killed someone. That's common sense. But then we turn to the Bible to see if our common sense adds up. And we find, first of all, no scripture telling us that all sin is equal from Genesis to Revelation. Zero evidence. But what we do find is the greater sin mentioned. Then we find the greater damnation. Then we find the lowest hell. Then we find an entire judgment based on how bad people were when they're going to hell. Then we find that one group of people was called sinners before the Lord exceedingly, implying that other people were sinners, but they weren't sinners exceedingly like the men of Sodom. Then we find that there's the sin unto death, and the sin not unto death, making it impossible for all sin to be equal. Then we find that there's a big difference between someone who sins through ignorance because they didn't know that it was wrong, and the person who knows that it's wrong, and they just purposely go out and do it anyway. That is worse, the Bible says. And continuing on that thought, look down at Psalm 19. It says in verse 12, who can understand his errors? Cleanse thou me from secret faults. What he means by who can understand his errors is he's saying there's really nobody on this earth who could really list all their sins. You know, the Catholics, they go down and confess their sins, right? But there are so many sins that we commit without even knowing that we committed them. Because the Bible says the thought of foolishness is sin. The Bible says to him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him it is sin. So we can't really understand our errors. We can't really know every single sin that we've committed to confess it because we do things through ignorance. We have secret faults that we don't even know that we have, stuff that we did wrong without even realizing it. But then it says in verse 13, keep back thy servant. What's the next word? Also, right? So he said, first of all, cleanse me from the secret faults. But he says, also keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins. And Numbers 15 taught us that the presumptuous sin is the opposite of the sin through ignorance. Remember Numbers 15, 30? Taught us that there's the sin through ignorance and there's the presumptuous sin. Here David calls it the secret fault and the presumptuous sin. And he says here, keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins. Let them not have dominion over me. Then shall I be upright and I shall be innocent from the great transgression. So what's the great transgression? Sinning presumptuously, sinning willfully, sinning on purpose, and then there's the secret fault. Now look, David wanted to be cleansed from both. David didn't want to have secret faults. David didn't want to sin through ignorance, but he said, man, I really don't want to sin presumptuously because that's the great transgression. How can you have a great transgression if all sin is equal? I mean look, here's a synonym for the word great, big. Okay, now we use the word big. Is big really a word that comes up a lot in the Bible? Goliath was really big, is that what it says? The ark was big. No, big is a word that we use a lot, but you know what the Bible uses? The word great to refer to size a lot. If you look up every time the word great is mentioned in the Bible, often it's referring to the size. It means that something's very big, you know, a great gulf, okay? There's a huge distance there. So when the Bible says here the great transgression, you know what we would say in our modern vernacular? The big sin. I mean, keep me from presumptuous sins, you know, because I don't want to be guilty of the big sin, okay? And then in the next verse he says, let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer. So here we see that the meditation of your heart is probably more like the secret faults, you know, you think a dumb thought, you don't even realize how bad it was what you thought, but you thought something wrong. Another verse, I mean there's so much scripture, good night. Roman 713 says, was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid, but sin that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good, and I know that's a mouthful, Romans is a complicated book, but listen to the last words of Romans 713, that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful. So sin is sin, but when we hear the commandment and we learn that it's wrong and we keep doing it, then it becomes exceeding sinful. So there's a lot of scripture on this subject of sinning willfully or presumptuously versus sinning through ignorance. One is called a big sin. One is a lesser sin that gets you beaten with few stripes versus a lot of stripes, okay? But not only that, number seven, and we're not going to turn to any scriptures on this one just for sake of time, but if you would turn to 1 Kings chapter 3 for the next point. But number seven is this, if all sin is equal, then why were there different punishments for different crimes in the Bible, and I already touched on this earlier, why is first degree murder worse than second degree murder if all sin is equal? Why is it that stealing had a different penalty than murder? And what about this, doesn't the Bible clearly teach that adultery is worse than fornication? See those who committed fornication were not put to death. Those who committed fornication, yes it's a big sin, but it's not as big as adultery. Think about it. Think about two people that are unmarried who go to bed together. That's a major sin, okay? God condemns it over and over again and it has major repercussions and God did kill 23,000 people in one day. God poured out His wrath on people for committing fornication in the book of Exodus to the tune of 23,000 in one day. But wait a minute though, isn't adultery worse? For example, the Bible teaches that if a man commits fornication with a maiden, with a girl who is a virgin, the Bible teaches that his punishment is that he must marry her and he must pay a fine. So he must pay a fine and marry the girl, okay? Because he has defiled her. Whereas if a man lies with another man's wife, what's the punishment? Death. What's worse? To be a maiden and marry the girl or be killed, okay, do you understand? So there's a difference there, isn't there? And you know what? I mean, adultery is wicked. And look, I'm not justifying fornication. Fornication is wicked as hell. It's a major sin. And you know, you say, well, everybody's doing it. No they're not. And the world will try to tell you everybody commits fornication. Let me tell you something. I can stand here and say I did not commit fornication before I was married. And when I was married, I've been with one woman in my entire life and that's my wife, okay? So no, not everybody's doing it, okay? So don't just get this attitude, well, everybody's a sinner, everybody commits fornication. No they don't. The vast majority of people commit fornication today. Ninety-some percent of unsaved people, I'm sure, commit fornication. But you know what? That does not mean that God today in 2013 thinks fornication's fine now. Just because our society thinks that fornication's pretty normal, it's pretty standard, pretty much everybody's done it, you know what though? God does not consider it normal. And you know what? My children, my children are going to be taught to not commit fornication and that it is not acceptable and that it is a very major sin and that there will be very major consequences if they commit it. Now I'm going to teach that unto my sons because I think it's so important that they remain pure and that they keep their virginity until they get married, okay? But all that being said, adultery is even worse. Not saying that fornication's not a big sin, it's a huge sin, but adultery's much worse. It's even worse. It even takes it to a whole other level. That's why if you're married, you better doubly guard your purity and triple guard that purity because that is a very, very major sin. And I say I'll teach that to my sons, you say well aren't you going to teach that to your daughters? I'm going to tell you this, it's not going to be humanly possible for anyone to commit fornication with my daughters. And you know what? You're laughing but I'm not kidding. Because I'm not going to, you say well what about when they go get a job? They're not going to get a job. Why would my daughters go get a job? What do they need a job for? You know what? I'm going to pay for them. I'm going to pay their bills. And you know what? When I'm done paying for them, their husband's going to pay for them. And I hope that he doesn't fail in his responsibility to provide and send them off to work or something. But you know what? At that point it's none of my business. At that point it's not my responsibility. But you know what? When I pass off my daughters unto their husband, I'm going to be able to guarantee that they're a virgin because I'm going to make it to where it's not even humanly possible. Because I'm not going to have them out gallivanting around town. I'm not going to have them going off to work and going out with all these people on set. You know what? And you say, well what if you don't like the guy they're dating? They're not going to be dating a guy that I don't like. A guy that I don't like is going to get his face punched in. Alright, good. I've got one. Is there a second? Alright, all in favor say aye. So I'm just telling the truth. I'm going to protect my daughters. And you say, well why the double standard? Because everything in the Bible is a double standard? Because I'm not a feminist? Because men and women are different? Because my sons are going to be taught to be independent. My daughters are going to be taught not to be independent. My sons are going to be taught to go out and work hard and make a living. My daughters are going to be taught to be a homemaker. You don't like that? Well, whatever. That's what the Bible teaches. It says the women should be keepers at home, obedient to their husbands, all that. Like it or lump it, that's what the Bible teaches. And I don't want my daughters going out and getting a career and going to college and hanging around with a bunch of guys. And look, here's the difference. My son's not going to go out, my son's not going to get forced into anything physically. I don't think that some woman is going to force my son to fornicate with her. Because I'm not raising my children to be that much of a weakling that some Amazon woman is just going to pin them down and do whatever to them. I mean, are you listening to me? I mean, my sons, if some girl comes up to them and tries to force them to do something, they're going to be strong enough to resist. And look, men are also less likely to be deceived emotionally because the Bible teaches that Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. And so women are designed to follow. Men are designed to lead. It doesn't mean that men are better than women. It's just two different types of a creature that God has made, man and woman. And they have different strengths. Look, there are strengths that my wife has that I don't have. There are other strengths that I have that she doesn't have. Because women have certain abilities and men have certain abilities. And let me tell you something, I am not just going to send my daughters out into the world like Jacob sent Dinah out into the world, so that some guy can seduce her like they seduced Dinah, okay? Because of the fact that they are weaker. The Bible says they are the weaker vessel. Physically weaker. And I mean, these days, I mean, there are guys who basically will put physical force on a woman to get what they want out of her. You know? And they're stronger. And they can't resist. Or just pressure. You know, there's a lot of pressure today. Look, if your child is in the public high school or the public junior high or the Christian high school, just know that there's pressure being put on them. Just know that if you have a young, beautiful daughter and you're dropping her off at the public school, guess what? There's pressure on her to get in the bed with some guy. And guys are putting pressure on her. And you know what? You say, well, they ought to be able to withstand it. You know what? I don't care. I'm not taking the chance with it. I'm going to protect my daughters. This has nothing to do with big sins and little sins. I don't even know why I'm preaching about it. But I'm going to tell you something. You know, I will physically protect my family. And I'll protect my daughters. And you know what? My sons, they're going to have to be man enough and strong enough to control themselves and to obey God's word and answer to God. But my daughters, I'm taking responsibility for my daughters. And by the way, in the Old Testament, whenever somebody would get married and they found the girl that was supposed to be a maid and she wasn't really a maiden, what'd they do? They went to the dad and said, hey, what's going on? So who's responsible? Yeah, ouch. But anyway, that has nothing to do with the sermon. But you know what? It's good preaching for those that have daughters. And just because our society says, oh, let your daughter drive around and go everywhere and get a job and go to college and go stay in some dormitory somewhere and just do whatever. Just because our society says that, I'm not going to do it. And if you're smart, you won't do it either because you want to protect them. Ah, you shelter them. Yes, I'm going to shelter them. Of course I am. Oh, but how are they going to learn to be independent? I hope they don't because women are supposed to be married and follow their husband. Do you think I want my wife to be independent or do you think I want her to depend on me? Oh, what if something happens to you? Then she needs to marry somebody else and depend on him. This is all biblical, everything I'm saying. The Bible commands women who are under 60 years old, if their husband dies, to marry someone else in 1 Timothy chapter 5. It's all biblical. Read up on it if you don't believe me. Okay, but let's move on to something that actually has to do with the sermon. First Kings chapter 3, the next reason why all sin is not equal is that God, when He spoke about different kings in the Old Testament, you know, the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah, He would always kind of put them into one of two categories, right? The guy who did right in the sight of the Lord and the guy who did evil in the sight of the Lord. Isn't that true? He'd kind of just lump them in. Now, but sometimes there'd be a guy, like for example King Asa, where he said, you know, this guy did what was right in the sight of the Lord, but they still worshiped God in the high places. And his heart wasn't perfect with the Lord, but nevertheless he did right before the Lord. Are you getting this? So even though he was wrong on that thing about the high places, because the Bible clearly commanded in the Mosaic law not to worship in the high places, okay? Even though he did that, he still was considered having done right. Look at King Solomon in 1 Kings chapter 3, it says, And Solomon loved the Lord, verse 3 I should say of chapter 3, Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of David his father, only he sacrificed and burnt incense in high places. Now, is that right that he did that? Is he supposed to offer burnt sacrifices in high places or not? No. Clearly no. But look at verse 4, And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for there was the great high place. Is that the right place for him to be sacrificing? No. A thousand burnt offerings did Solomon offer upon that altar. In Gibeon, the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night, and God said, Ask what I shall give thee. Now, look, is God still blessing Solomon? Is God still going to answer his prayer and give him what he wants? Is God still considering Solomon a good king? Yes. Solomon is considered a good king, he did right in the sight of the Lord, God is asking him whatever he wants, he's going to give it to him, in spite of the fact that he's offering his offering in the high place. But yet other kings made other mistakes where that just totally put them in the bad king category. But if all sins equal, why didn't this sin put Solomon in the bad king category? And what about this? What about when a guy like Uzziah entered into the temple with incense? He carried the incense and went into the temple with it, and God was so angry he smote him with leprosy for the rest of his life. Because Uzziah walked into the temple where only the high priest was supposed to be, with incense in his hand, he was smitten with leprosy for the rest of his life. Do we see that kind of thing happening with Solomon here? He's still not worshipping God just right, but obviously it wasn't as bad for him to offer sacrifices in the high places as it was for a guy to waltz into the holy place of the temple when he's not supposed to be there. You see what I'm saying? So this again proves that because God had a different view of different kings based on what they did wrong, that not every sin was equal in God's eyes, where God just looks down and says, this king sinned, sins equal, all sins the same. And then not only that, but King David was told, or it was said of King David by Samuel, Samuel said unto Saul, the Lord hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day and hath given it to a neighbor of thine that is better than thou. Now look, did Saul commit sins? Did David commit sins? But hold on a second, David was better than Saul. And God said of David, he's better than you. Now a lot of people will say, and I gotta hurry up, I'm out of time, the last point, I'll just mention it, but is the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost. If all sins equal, then why did God say if you blaspheme against the Holy Ghost you never have forgiveness. If you blaspheme against Jesus, you have forgiveness. Think about that. He said, whosoever shall speak 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. Are those two things equal? Is blaspheming the Holy Ghost equal to blaspheming Jesus? No. So how is all sin equal? So look, we've seen a mountain of evidence, and you might say, well I didn't really agree with .5, or I didn't really agree with .3, but can you really disprove all nine points? Greater sin, greater damnation, the great transgression, sinners exceedingly, lowest hell, sin unto death, sin not unto death. Are you really going to tell me, Pastor Anderson, I still think all sin is equal. And look, let me tell you why this is an important doctrine. You say there's no point in preaching this. Why do you even preach? Why do you make such a big deal? I'll tell you why. This is an extremely dangerous doctrine, because this doctrine that says all sin is equal, you know what, it gives people a mentality that says, well you know what, I might as well commit the big sin because it isn't any different than the little sin. I mean think about how bad this doctrine is. Now look, is it a sin to look upon a woman to lust after her? Yes it is a sin, isn't it? Okay, is it a sin to actually commit adultery with that woman? Which one is a bigger sin? But see, you know what this doctrine teaches? Well you know, I keep looking at this woman and lusting after her, I might as well just go commit adultery with her. I've already done it in my heart anyway. See how bizarre that is? But look, people use this to justify sin and it causes them to cavalierly and nonchalantly commit very big, major sins, like abortion for example. You think that's a big sin or a little sin? Murder? Murder. Big sin. And you know what, people will even say, well you know, I had an abortion but you know what, you're a sin or two. I'm not a murderer. You know? And when you're a murderer, that's a big sin. That's a major sin. And a lot of women will think like, well you know, yeah I'm going to have an abortion because you know what, I know it's a sin but we're all sinners, nobody's perfect, it's just a mistake I made, I'm just going to have the abortion, God's going to forgive me, no big deal. See how dangerous this is? When you start putting abortion in the same category with fornication. And then it's like, well I've committed fornication, I might as well have the abortion. Or I've lusted, I've got all this lust, I might as well just commit full blown fornication. Or I'm lusting, I might as well commit adultery. I might as well just sin. And you'll say to people, look, don't have an abortion, that's murder. Oh well but you're a sinner too buddy, you hypocrite. You sin. Are you without sin? Are you perfect? Well then you can't judge. Or you tell people, look, don't divorce your wife, don't leave your wife. That's not right. Stay with your wife. Stay true to your wife. Stay with your wife. Oh look, we're all sinners. And you know what, you're a sinner too, and I'm just going to leave my wife. I'm just going to marry someone else because we don't love each other anymore. That's a major sin. And we need to get off this worldly teaching, it's not even worldly, it's otherworldly. I don't know, what is this teaching? I don't know, I guess we'll call it just this liberal teaching? This evangelical teaching that teaches that all sins equal? This permissive teaching that tells you that every sin you commit is just as bad as the other? It's dangerous because it causes us to justify big sins as just being, well it's under grace, not a big deal, nobody's perfect anyway. It makes us justify others, it makes us justify ourselves, and you know what? We understand the fact that we're going to sin, we're going to make mistakes, but that doesn't mean that we should go out and get drunk and go out and fornicate and go out and commit adultery and murder our offspring because hey, we're all sinners. Even the apostle Paul was a sinner. It's a really bad logic, it's a really dangerous doctrine, and I hope that everyone here is convinced that it's unbiblical. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for your Word and we thank you for the common sense that you've given us that should allow us to instantly see through these types of lies and farces. But Father, thank you for giving us so much evidence and scripture just to guide us and show us. Look, look, look.