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Scripture Reading: 1 John 5:14-17
In 5:16 and 17 John says, “If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin not unto death, he shall ask and he will give life to him, to those sinning not unto death. There is sin unto death; I do not say that he should make request concerning that. All unrighteousness is sin, and there is sin not unto death.” These verses indicate that if we see a brother sinning a sin not unto death, we should ask concerning that one and give life to him. But how can we know if a particular sin is unto death? Suppose a brother has sinned and also has become ill. If we do not know whether or not this sin is unto death, how shall we be able to make request concerning the situation?
We have seen that 5:14-17 is related to prayer in the fellowship of eternal life. In the fellowship of the divine life there is the governmental dealing of God according to the spiritual condition of each of His children. In God’s governmental dealing, some of His children may be destined to physical death in this age due to a certain sin, and others may be destined to physical death due to other sins. Whether a sin is unto death or not depends on God’s judgment according to each one’s position and condition in the house of God.
Although we may be clear concerning this matter in principle, how are we to discern whether or not a particular brother has sinned unto death? In order to have this kind of discernment, we need to be a person who is absolutely one with the Lord. Actually, only the Lord Himself knows whether a certain sin is unto death. Therefore, if we are not one with the Lord, we cannot know whether or not a brother has sinned unto death. However, if we are deeply one with the Lord, if we abide in the Lord, and if we are one spirit with Him, spontaneously we shall know whether or not a particular sin is unto death. There will be no need for us to try to know this matter.
We should not think that a particular sin is serious and is unto death and that another sin is not serious and is not unto death. Consider the case of Moses in Numbers 20. Moses was provoked, and as a result he did something that was not according to God’s will: he struck the rock a second time. Striking the rock twice was against God’s basic principle. The rock typifies Christ, and God had no intention for Christ to be smitten twice. The first time Moses struck the rock according to God’s word (Exo. 17:1-6). But the second time that Moses struck the rock was not according to God’s word. God told Moses to speak to the rock. But, being provoked, Moses struck it a second time. Due to that mistake, Moses, although he was so close to God, was not allowed to enter into the good land: “And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them” (Num. 20:12). According to Deut. 32:48-52, the Lord told Moses to go up to the mountain and die because he and Aaron had trespassed against the Lord “among the children of Israel at the waters of Meribah-Kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin; because ye sanctified me not in the midst of the children of Israel” (v. 51). We may think that Moses made only a small mistake. But according to God’s governmental dealing, it was a sin unto death. The case of Moses illustrates the fact that in ourselves we are not qualified or able to discern what kind of sin is unto death. We can have such discernment only when we are absolutely one with the Lord.
What is described in 5:14-17 concerning the life-giving petition can be experienced only by those who are deep in the Lord. In verse 14 John speaks of prayer that is according to God’s will. In order to pray this kind of prayer, we must be one with the Lord. If we are deeply one with Him, we shall know His will, and we shall also know the situation of the one who is sinning. Because this one is our brother, someone very close to us in the Lord, we shall know his real situation before the Lord. This matter is deep.
If you are one with the Lord and know a sinning brother’s condition and situation before the Lord, you will then know the Lord’s will and be able to pray according to His will. Because you know the Lord’s will, you will also know whether or not this brother will die because of his sin.
These verses indicate that we who have eternal life can pass this life on to others. This means that we can be a channel through which eternal life is supplied to others. We can be a channel for eternal life to flow out of us and into others. Verse 16 refers to this. In this verse the one who asks is also the one who gives life to the sinning brother. This indicates that the one who asks will give life to the one concerning whom he asks. The asker, who is abiding in the Lord, who is one with the Lord, and who is asking in one spirit with the Lord, becomes the means through which God’s life-giving Spirit can give life to the one for whom he asks. This is a matter of life-imparting in the fellowship of the divine life.
Notice that in verse 16 John speaks of someone seeing “his brother” sinning. The words “his brother” point to a brother who is close to him, someone who is so close to him that he is a part of him. If you have a brother close to you in this way and do not know whether this brother will die because of his sin, then you are not deep in the Lord. If you are truly deep in the Lord and are one with Him, as you consider the brother’s situation, you will enter into the Lord’s heart and know His will. You will know whether this brother, who is so intimate to you, will die because of his sin. Then you will know how to pray for him. You will know whether or not to pray for him to be forgiven and healed. If this brother’s sin is unto death, you will realize that you should not pray to impart life into him. Instead, you may be burdened to pray for him from another angle.
My burden in this message is to show you that the eternal life within us is real and practical. On the one hand, we can enjoy this eternal life within us. On the other hand, we can pass on this eternal life to others. We can be a channel for eternal life to flow out from us, or through us, to others. However, the experience of being a channel for eternal life to flow out to others is a deep matter. This cannot be done in a superficial way. If we would be a channel for eternal life to flow out to others, we must be deep in the Lord, and we must know the Lord’s heart by being in His heart. If we have entered into the Lord to such a degree, spontaneously we shall know the Lord’s will concerning a brother close to us who has sinned. Because we know the Lord’s will concerning the brother’s situation, we shall know how to pray for him.
Although I do not claim to be so deep in the Lord, I can testify that through the years I have known some cases of brothers who sinned unto death. A certain brother, who was very close to me, fell into a certain kind of sin. During the course of fellowship with the Lord, I had the deep sense that the Lord would take this brother away. I realized that this brother would die because of his sin, and eventually he did die for this reason. I prayed for this brother. First, I had the intention to pray for his healing. But the Spirit within me prohibited me from praying in that way. How do I know that I was prohibited by the Spirit to pray for this brother’s healing? I knew because as I was praying for him, I had the anointing within me. But when I was about to pray for his healing, the anointing stopped. It was in this way I realized I should not pray for that brother’s healing. Simultaneously, I began to understand that probably the Lord would not heal him, that he would probably die as a result of his sin. Then with much anointing from the Lord, I prayed for this brother from another angle. I prayed for the Lord to comfort him and his wife and to care for his family.
In some cases, when I tried to pray for the healing of such a brother, I was rebuked by the Lord. The Lord said to me, “You are praying according to your own wish. This brother is close to you, and you love him and want him to live longer. You are praying not according to the will of God, but according to your own desire.” Knowing that I could not continue to pray in that way, I came to realize that the Lord would probably take the brother away. This has been my experience with some cases in the past.
In 5:14-17 John shows us that eternal life is practical and can be experienced by us in a deep way. In these verses we see the need to live in the divine life to such an extent that we are absolutely one with the Lord. Then as we pray we shall know whether or not there is the anointing in our prayer. If there is the anointing, we should go on to pray for a brother according to the anointing. But if there is no anointing, we may be praying in ourselves. When we have these experiences, we know that eternal life is real and practical.
The Epistle of 1 John is on the fellowship of the divine life. Chapters one, three, and five indicate strongly that sin is a problem to us. In chapter one sin and sins are dealt with. According to this chapter, sin damages our fellowship in the divine life.
In chapter three John says that he who practices sin is of the Devil (v. 8), and that everyone who has been begotten of God does not practice sin (v. 9). Then in verse 20 John says that if our heart blames us, God is greater than our heart and knows all things. In verse 21 he goes on to say that if our heart does not blame us, we have boldness toward God. For our heart to blame us means that we are wrong in some way. This indicates that sin causes trouble to our conscience. Therefore, we need to have our conscience void of offense.
In chapter five we see something even more serious regarding sin. Sin not only interrupts our fellowship and causes our conscience to have no peace; sin may even cause physical death. According to the human concept, it may seem insignificant to come to the Lord’s table without discerning the Lord’s body (1 Cor. 11:29). Actually, it is extremely serious to come to the Lord’s table with a divisive spirit and thereby fail to discern the body. Because many of the believers at Corinth failed to discern the body, some became weak. That was a warning. Some who did not pay attention to this warning became ill. Eventually, those who would not heed even that warning died. In our opinion, they might not have committed a gross sin. Nevertheless, from the point of view of God’s government, certain of the Corinthians committed a sin unto death.
Sins, failures, mistakes, and trespasses may be viewed from different angles. From the human point of view, certain mistakes may seem minor. But from God’s point of view, especially from the perspective of His government, certain matters which are not serious in our sight are very serious indeed. For example, according to God’s government, Moses made a great mistake. In the sight of the Israelites, what he did was minor. However, Moses made a serious mistake in relation to God’s government. By this we see that it makes a difference from what angle someone’s sin or failure is viewed.
I definitely do not have the intention of frightening anyone. I simply want to point out the truth concerning the seriousness of sin.
If you study the situation of those who have rebelled against the church, you will see that to oppose the church, to try to damage the church, or to rebel against the authority of the church is a very serious matter. At least, such rebellion causes great loss to one’s spiritual life. In more than fifty years’ experience in the church life, I have never seen anyone who was not right with the church who continued to enjoy spiritual blessing as he should. If someone does not want to go along with the church, it is better for that one not to be involved with the church. But as soon as someone touches the church in a negative way, that person will suffer loss. In saying this I am not pronouncing a curse on anyone. On the contrary, I am simply being faithful to speak the truth. History proves that it is not a profit for anyone to seek to damage the church or rebel against it.
I would urge all the saints, especially the young brothers and sisters, never to be negligent or careless concerning sin. Never think that sin is an insignificant matter. We all should stay away from sinful things. Sin causes our fellowship to be broken, it causes us to have no peace in our conscience, and it may even cause the loss of physical life. If sin does not lead to one’s physical death, it will certainly cause spiritual death. Therefore, let us learn to fear God regarding sin.
May we also learn to become deep in fellowship with the Lord. If we are deep in our fellowship with the Lord, we shall be those who are in the Lord’s heart and know His will both concerning ourselves and concerning the fellow members of the Body. Then we shall be able to help those around us and even impart life to them out of the Lord and by the Holy Spirit. This means that we shall be able to be a channel for the divine life to flow out of us and into our fellow members.
Recently I was asked if all sickness is due to sin. As we consider human experience and spiritual experience, we must say that not all sickness is due to sin. Here I would emphasize the fact that by the Lord’s mercy and grace, we are His children possessing His life and enjoying His nature. Now we need to be careful about everything related to our daily living: eating, drinking, contacting people, spending money. If we are careful concerning all things, then we shall do our part to be preserved from becoming sick or weak. In every way — spiritually, psychologically, physically, and materially — we need to be proper with God and man. In particular, we should not willingly and knowingly do anything that is against the Lord. It is extremely serious knowingly to go against the Lord.
