We Are No Longer The Same (January 7, 2024)

The speaker reflects on the writings of John in chapter 8, specifically focusing on verses 1-11. They emphasize the transformative power of Christ's influence in our lives and the importance of recognizing the forgiveness and acceptance we have through Him. The speaker discusses a story in which the scribes and Pharisees bring a woman caught in adultery to Jesus, attempting to trap Him. However, Jesus responds with love and forgiveness, reminding us that caring, loving, and grace are all forgiving. The speaker encourages listeners to move from bitterness to betterment, condemnation to consolation, and exclusion to reconciliation. They highlight that the church should be a place of restoration and reconciliation, not condemnation. They also note that Jesus came with a new law of love. Today we want to reflect upon John's writings, chapter 8, the first 11 verses, to give you an opportunity and time to get to that particular passage. And as you're going there, there's some reflections that I want to share as we move into the Word of God. An examination of the pure influence of Christ upon our lives shows in a most demonstrative way that His power and His presence makes the difference. And we should take a moment and reflect upon what the Spirit of Christ has done through us and for us. We are no longer the same, and oftentimes we're in the throes of maybe thinking that we are not forgiven, that we have not been accepted, that we've been held hostage by unwillingness at times to even forgive ourselves. But the Word comes this morning as a reminder that we are no longer the same. We have been bought with a price. We're no longer our own. And for all who have come into a pure and loving relationship with Christ as the head, I believe that there is a consistent and persistent testimony. There is an awesome praise report that life has become better and not bitter. It's become better and not bitter. And there is a song that resonates in my hearing this morning. And the lyrics would be, I feel better, so much better, since I laid my burden down. And those who would sing the song would say every rhyme goes higher and higher, since I laid my burden down. And as they would sing the song, they would go on to even sing this, friends don't treat me like they used to, since I laid my burden down. I'm so glad this morning that we are able to lay our burdens down. And what a powerful reminder for us today that the quality of our lives multiplies each and every day, each and every moment. When we come to Christ Jesus and we lay our burdens down to never pick them up again, we are no longer the same. We are no longer the same. Thank God, thank God, thank God for having come into a sincere relationship with Christ Jesus, such that we come to know and experience what value added really means. When we get in Christ Jesus, we know what it means to get an upgrade. In Him, hallelujah, there is an absolute guarantee of life and life more abundantly. And then we get this upgrade and we find unconditional love and we experience unspeakable joy. In Him, there is this rich experience of the beauty of holiness and the awesomeness in knowing that we are forgiven and accepted. We are no longer the same. If you don't pay attention to anything else that we say this morning, I just want to convey this thought that we are forgiven and we are accepted. We have been reconciled to the Father through the Son of Christ Jesus and the indwelling Holy Spirit. Family, to be forgiven and to be accepted is the very essence of our relationship with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It is a relationship that has Christ Jesus as the starting point because Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. No man or woman can come to the Father but by Him. Jesus Christ is our starting point. And when we confess, hallelujah, with our mouths and believe in our hearts that God has raised Him from the dead, it is then that we become safe. And it is then that we are no longer the same. So, to the extent that we have been grappling with whether or not we are all right, if we have been grappling with whether or not, has He really forgiven me? Am I really saved? I just want to convey to you this morning that you are no longer the same. After we have confessed to the Lord Jesus, have we at times missed the mark? Yes, we have. Have we sinned and fallen short of the glory of God? Yes, we have. Have we found ourselves caught, being caught in a jacked up or jilled up situation? Of course, we have, but the Father cares so much about us that He sent His Son, His only begotten Son, to be the eternal sacrifice for every one of our sins, past, present, future. The blood covers it all, family. The Father cares so much for us and He loved us so much that He sent His only begotten Son that whosoever believes on Him shall not perish but shall have everlasting life. And what it should remind us this morning is that caring is forgiving. Loving is forgiving. Grace is forgiving. And we're no longer the same because we know that we have been forgiven by the Father through the Son. The blood of the Lord Jesus that was shed on the cross has paid the cover charge, if you will, for our sins so that we might have an unbroken relationship with Him. And so let us go with these thoughts and explore here what John writes in John 8 of his gospel, verses 1 through 11. And it is in these verses that we find a beautiful story which reminds us that caring is forgiving, that loving is forgiving, that God's grace is forgiving. Beginning at verse 1, Jesus went up to the Mount of Olives and early in the morning He came again into the temple. And all the people came unto Him and He sat down and taught them. And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto Him a woman taken in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, they said to Him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery in the very act. Now Moses and the Lord commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do you say? This they said, tempting Him that they might have to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down. He changed His posture. But Jesus stooped down and with His finger rose on the ground as though He heard them not. So when they continued asking Him, He lifted up Himself. He rose to the occasion, if you will, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let Him, let her, if you will, cast the stone at her first. And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the oldest, even unto the last. And Jesus was left alone and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had lifted up Himself and saw none but the woman, He said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? Has no man or woman condemned you? She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more. May the Lord bless the spoken word to penetrate our hearts and our minds, to move us from bitter to better, from condemnation to consolation. From exclusion to reconciliation. In the name of Christ Jesus we pray. Amen. Family, the text shows us that the scribes and the Pharisees, the legalists, the jurist doctors, if you will, Dr. Glenda, the condemnalists, if you will, they put a woman on trial in the temple. Instead of the temple being a place of restoration and reconciliation, the scribes and the Pharisees were using the moment to condemn and convict only one of two guilty parties, under the lens of the law and under the weight of the law. I don't know how you can catch somebody in the very act, but there's only one person there. Hallelujah. And oftentimes we have seen this even in the church, where the church, instead of it being the place of restoration and reconciliation, Jesus Christ says upon this rock, I'm building my ecclesia, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Hallelujah. It is there in the so-called building that we call the church that has become the same exact place where we want to put people on trial. But we are not here to put each other on trial because God is still in the saving business. And I thank God for the Son who comes not to condemn the world, but that through him the world might be saved. Matter of fact, John wrote about this in chapter 1 verse 17 of his book. He says, he writes that the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth, thank God for Jesus, grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. In him we are not subjected to the death penalty of the law, but bestowed on a more abundant life through grace and truth. And it is interesting that the scribes and Pharisees say that they caught the woman, but when you start looking at the verses 4 through 6, those verses highlight that they really tried to catch her so they could trap Jesus. They were really trying to trap Jesus. When you read verses 4 through 6 and it says this, they say unto him, Master or Teacher, this woman was taken in adultery in the very act. Now Moses and the law command us that such should be stoned, but what do you say? This, they say, tempting him that they might have to accuse him. So they caught the woman, but in reality what they really wanted to do was catch Jesus in a trap. And we're experiencing that even now. People are having conversations with us even now. They're trying to catch us in a trap. They want us to deny the existence of Jesus Christ and his power that to the uttermost he's still in the saving business. But this morning I'm grateful that the law can't put grace and truth into a trap. The grace and truth of Christ Jesus can't be beaten. Grace and truth wins every time and all the time. And while the scribes and the Pharisees continue to accuse her and they continue to ask at the same time, the Lord Jesus, what do you say about it, Lord? What say you, Teacher? What is your adjudication of the matter? We see here that in response the Lord Jesus stooped down and with his finger rolled on the ground as though he heard them not. The scribes and Pharisees were repetitive in their accusations against her and their trick questions for him, but the Lord Jesus, as though he didn't hear a word, and he stooped down. And he kept taking notes, if you will, as he ignores them and as he's taking notes and he's stooping down. And at the same time I'm convinced that in my Christological mind that he wasn't ignoring her. And with his finger he was writing on the ground. And I believe that while he was ignoring them, but not ignoring her, that he was writing a new law. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. I know that Moses came with the law, but Jesus Christ came with a new law. And that law is the law to love. Loving is forgiving. He ignored them, but he loved her and saw that with him as the starting point. She could no longer be the same. Thank God that he loves us and he saw us. He knew that if we would just receive him, as many as received him, to them gave he the power to become the sons and daughters of God. He knew that at that starting point that we would no longer be the same. And I'm so grateful, family, that we have a Savior who can turn a deaf ear, if you will, to our accusers. All of the people who are continuously trying to bring the things that have gone on in our past. I'm so glad that the Lord Jesus can ignore those who come to condemn us and convict us with an evil motive to use us to get back at him. People around us are begging us to join the conversations about what is going on in our country right now. And some with the evil intent to use the situations to deny the very existence of Christ. And the power of the Holy Spirit who changes us from the inside out. And yes, there are times we don't get it right. And when we don't, the Word says that we confess our faults one to another, pray one for each other, and that we could be healed. We could be healed, and we could be healed because the blood was shed. It reminds me of the hymn that says, I know it was the blood. I know it was the blood. I know it was the blood for me. One day when I was lost, he died upon the cross. I know it was the blood for me. And that same blood that has covered all of our transgressions and indiscretions is the same blood that can and will work in those who confess him and also confess their sins. In him we have this ministry of reconciliation. We are no longer the same when we see others fall. And at times, they just simply can't like the woman, but just like Jesus, we need to be one of them ones who preach and practice restoration and reconciliation. We need to be one of them ones, the spiritual ones that Paul writes about in Galatians 6 and 1 when he says, Brothers and sisters, if a person be overtaken of thought, you which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself, lest you also be tempted. We need to be one of them ones that can look beyond the situation and see the soul. And proclaim that for by grace are we saved through faith and that not of ourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. We're not saved by what we do. We are saved by who we confess, and we confess him now. We believe in our hearts now that God raised him from the dead in that same resurrection power. It's the same power that works in us to change us and transform us from bitter to better. And like Jesus, like Jesus in the season of God's great revival, like Jesus, we need to rise to the occasion. And we need to challenge the woman's accusers, the man's accusers, the brother's accusers, the sister's accusers, and remind them that, yeah, yeah, you who are without sin, go ahead and first cast a stone. If you are all of that and without sin, you go ahead and cast the first rock. You throw the first rock. I'm so glad that the scriptures remind us that the accusers thought about it. And being convicted by their own conscience, they went away. Hallelujah. And grace and truth comes and reminds you that you are not guilt-free. Hallelujah. By your own works. And it reminds you that you have, hallelujah, another comforter. And that same comforter that is speaking to you and is telling you that you're saved by grace is also the same comforter that is saying that that brother, that sister who has been overtaken in the font, that yes, they are entitled to the same grace that God is extending unto each of us. Thank you, Jesus. And I conclude hallelujah with this. Because I think it's so beautiful when we look at verses 10 and 11. It says that when Jesus had lifted up himself and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, woman, where are those thine accusers? Has no man condemned you? And she said, no man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more. Go and sin no more. All of us who have experienced this doctrine of grace, this ministry of reconciliation, we have been blessed with being restored in him by the blood of Jesus. I just want you to caution us that as we go, go and sin no more. We are no longer, we are no longer, we are no longer the same. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. I would like to close this out.