DON'T BE A PARTAKER IN THE SINS OF OTHERS

INTRODUCTION-- 1 Timothy 5:22 "Lay hands hastily on no man, neither be partaker of other men's sins: keep thyself pure."

1. As a young man, Timothy was exhorted not to participate, or share, in the sins of others.
   
   1. To do this, Timothy would need to have a knowledge of sin.
      
      1. "Sin is lawlessness." 1 John 3:4
         
      2. "Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it speaketh to them that are under the law; that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may be brought under the judgment of God:20 because by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified in his sight; for through the law cometh the knowledge of sin." Romans 3:19-20
         
   2. From a babe, he had known the sacred writings. 2 Timothy 3:15
      
2. Other young people have been warned against this. Proverbs 1:10-19 "My son, if sinners entice thee, Consent thou not. 11 If they say, Come with us, Let us lay wait for blood; Let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause; 12 Let us swallow them up alive as Sheol, And whole, as those that go down into the pit; 13 We shall find all precious substance; We shall fill our houses with spoil; 14 Thou shalt cast thy lot among us; We will all have one purse: 15 My son, walk not thou in the way with them; Refrain thy foot from their path: 16 For their feet run to evil, And they make haste to shed blood. 17 For in vain is the net spread In the sight of any bird: 18 And these lay wait for their own blood; They lurk privily for their own lives. 19 So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; It taketh away the life of the owners thereof."
   
   

LESSON--

1. The Bible has several examples of those who participated in the sins of others.
   
   1. Dathan and Abiram (with 250 0ther men) shared in the rebellion of Korah, and were destroyed by God. Numbers 16
      
   2. Sapphira shared in the sin of her husband. Acts 5
      
   3. Saul (Paul) shared in (or consented to) the death of Stephen. Acts 7:58-8:1
      
2. We are warned against such participation. 2 John 10-11, Ephesians 5:3-12
   
3. Partaking in the sins of others brings punishment from God, but those who refrain from this sin will have the hope of salvation Psalm 50:16-23

APPLICATION--

1. It is certainly much more rewarding to be "partakers" in good things.
   
   1. It begins with being a partaker of the divine nature. 2 Peter 1:2-4 "Grace to you and peace be multiplied in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that his divine power hath granted unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that called us by his own glory and virtue; whereby he hath granted unto us his precious and exceeding great promises; that through these ye may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in that world by lust." (We are also "partakers of a heavenly calling." Hebrews 3:1)
      
   2. Such a prospect motivated the Apostle Paul. 1 Corinthians 9:23 "And I do all things for the gospel's sake, that I may be a joint partaker thereof."
      
   3. We are indebted to the Lord for this honor. Colossians 1:12 "Give thanks unto the Father, who made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light;"
      
2. Partaking in these things might mean sharing in suffering.
   
   1. It may be simply the suffering shared with those who labor against opposition to spread the Gospel. 2 Corinthians 1:3-7 "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort; 4 who comforteth us in all our affliction, that we may be able to comfort them that are in any affliction, through the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. 5 For as the sufferings of Christ abound unto us, even so our comfort also aboundeth through Christ. 6 But whether we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; or whether we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which worketh in the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer: 7 and our hope for you is stedfast; knowing that, as ye are partakers of the sufferings, so also are ye of the comfort."
      
   2. It may be cause by the chastening of God. Hebrews 12:9-10 "Furthermore, we had the fathers of our flesh to chasten us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? 10 For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed good to them; but he for our profit, that we may be partakers of his holiness."

APPEAL--

1. 2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1 "Be not unequally yoked with unbelievers: for what fellowship have righteousness and iniquity? or what communion hath light with darkness? 15 And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what portion hath a believer with an unbeliever? 16 And what agreement hath a temple of God with idols? for we are a temple of the living God; even as God said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 17 Wherefore Come ye out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, And touch no unclean thing; And I will receive you, 18 And will be to you a Father, And ye shall be to me sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. 1 Having therefore these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God."
   
2. Hebrews 3:12-14 "Take heed, brethren, lest haply there shall be in any one of you an evil heart of unbelief, in falling away from the living God: 13 but exhort one another day by day, so long as it is called To-day; lest any one of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin: 14 for we are become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our confidence firm unto the end."