Grace Fellowship Church Pastor/Teacher - Jim Rickard Sunday, July 19, 2009

1 John 5:16 Virtue Limitations of Prayer, Pt 2

“Not leading to death” ME PROS THANATOS. PROS means, “to or toward”. The idea of being “face to face” with someone or something.

“Not bringing him face to face with death”. There is a category of sin that does bring us face to face with death, a.k.a. the Sin Unto Death.

Sin “face to face” with death is not a specific sin. It is when the believer resides and functions consistently inside Satan’s Cosmic System.

It is motivational evil toward self and functional evil toward others, which results in maximum punitive discipline from God.

Sin Unto Death is typically a process leading to one’s final physical death as the third stage of Divine discipline, 1 Cor 11:30, but can also be a swift judgment by God, Acts 5:1-11.

You can pray for someone that is under stage one or two of Divine discipline, but you don’t pray for the discipline to be removed, you pray for them to wake up as a result of the discipline.

When someone is about to be taken out under a “dishonorable discharge”, you don’t want to get in the way of God’s administration.

Principles: 1. Observation of a fellow believer is a very dangerous thing because we have no right to intrude upon the privacy of someone else’s priesthood.

2. Where observation does occur there is no command to gossip, malign or judge. The best you can do in respecting their privacy is pray for them.

“He will ask”, if you have seen someone sinning you should subsequently turn it over to God in prayer, verses taking matters into your own hands. “He will ask”, if you have seen someone sinning you should subsequently turn it over to God in prayer, verses taking matters into your own hands.

“And He (GtF) will give life to him.” The Grace of God in action in response to the protocol intercessory prayers of the mature believer for a sinning fellow believer.

“To those who commit sin not face to face with death.” Sinning believers, who are not under the Third Stage of Divine Discipline.

Principles: 1. Prayer is virtue dependent, but even an intercessory prayer possessing virtue has certain limitations. “God’s Will”

2. Once a believer is under the Sin Unto Death, prayer cannot reverse its administration, because it involves the sovereignty of God.

3. Illustration: The incest relationship of born again believers at Corinth. 1 Cor 5:1-5; 2 Cor 2:1-11; 7:8-11

4. Virtue limitation does not lie with the one offering the prayer, but with the object of intercession who resides in the Cosmic System.

Grace Offering

Grace Fellowship Church Grace Fellowship Church Sunday, July 19, 2009 Tape # 09S-029 Virtue Limitations of Prayer, Part 2 1 John Series 1 John 5:14-15; 1 Tim 2:1-3; 4:3-5; Col 4:2-3 James H. Rickard Bible Ministries 2009