Heavenly Father, we want to know you more. We want to know your heart. We’re children of God. We lay down all other identities. We are children of God.
When we come into this house, Lord, we pray that you would speak to us wherever we are. Whether we’re close to you or far, we pray that you would meet us where we are. I pray that your loving embrace would surround us.
We would leave this place knowing that we are fully loved by you. Thank you, Lord. In Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.
Please turn with me to John 8:2. The woman caught in adultery.
2 Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. 3 The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst 4 they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. 5 Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” 6 This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. 7 And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. 9 But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. 10 Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” 11 She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.” (John 8:2-11, ESV)
The main point is the heart of God. But I’ll start with sharing some observations from John 7 and John 8.
The dangers of worldliness. And we’ll move toward the heart of God, which is a God who hates sin but really loves a sinner. And I pray that we can walk away with that.
And since we are in this world, but not of this world, let’s live forgiven, free, and fearless. If you think about it, Jesus was crucified because he came to do one thing to the world, the world system. And he came to expose its deeds.
And to say the deeds of this world are evil. And the Jewish religious leaders who were participating in these evil works hated to be called out as evildoers.
And so, when it was God’s time, God allowed the hatred of these Jewish leaders to grow to such an extent that they plotted the murder of Jesus. And this is what Jesus says to his brothers.
John 7:7.
7 The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil. 8 You go up to the feast. I am not going up to this feast, for my time has not yet fully come.” (John 7:7-8, ESV)
And let me read the context. Verse one.
1 After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He would not go about in Judea, because the Jews were seeking to kill him. 2 Now the Jews’ Feast of Booths was at hand. 3 So his brothers said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea, that your disciples also may see the works you are doing. 4 For no one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, show yourself to the world.” 5 For not even his brothers believed in him. 6 Jesus said to them, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always here. (John 7:1-6, ESV)
And you see the attitude of Jesus’ own brothers, his flesh and blood. They are frustrated with Jesus because Jesus is such a gifted teacher, he performs miracles. Yet they are wondering why Jesus is not bringing this show on the road. They say, why don’t you show yourself to the world?
Like, if he were alive today, I’m sure his brothers would say you need to be on YouTube and Instagram and Twitter, and you need to be posting all the time. You need to show yourself to the world.
I’m not saying it’s bad to do that. But the attitude of these unbelieving brothers is you’re too talented, you’re too gifted to just hide yourself and to veil yourself and to have so little impact. Why don’t you show yourself to the world?
For people who are worldly, their timing and God’s timing are not in sync. God’s timing is something that only he knows. But if you’re a worldly minded person, so when I say worldly, it’s really a mindset. If your mindset is worldly, the time is always now.
The time is always now. You need to do it now. You cannot wait a year, five years, ten years. It’s too slow. The time is now. You need to show yourself. You need to prove that you are who you say you are. And why are you wasting your life and your talents and your gifts and the miracles?
That is the attitude from the world. That’s being expressed through Jesus’ own brothers. And Jesus says, the world cannot hate you, brothers, but it hates me because I am not of this world, and my time has not yet come. And so I cannot follow your timing. The timing of the world versus God’s timing, they are out of sync.
The second point about worldliness is that worldliness keeps us in fear. John 7:10.
10 But after his brothers had gone up to the feast, then he also went up, not publicly but in private. 11 The Jews were looking for him at the feast, and saying, “Where is he?” 12 And there was much muttering about him among the people. While some said, “He is a good man,” others said, “No, he is leading the people astray.” 13 Yet for fear of the Jews no one spoke openly of him. (John 7:10-13, ESV)
You know, in today’s divisive climate, there’s just so many topics that are off the table. You can’t talk about politics. You don’t know what kind of reaction you’re going to get from other people. You can’t talk about vaccines and Covid.
There’s so many things that you just cannot speak because you have no idea who you’re speaking to and the kind of reaction you’re going to get.
And there are people among the crowds who heard Jesus and some outrightly dismissed him, but some thought he is a good man. But for fear of the Jews, these leaders, the gatekeepers of society, the people who say, you’re in this world system, you’re in the gatekeepers. And we have some today.
There’s a certain narrative that is in, in terms of the worldly system. And if, as long as you’re with the majority, you can speak freely and you’re gonna be fine. There are some perspectives that, if you’re not careful, you speak it in the wrong setting, the wrong audience, right away, you’re out.
And this fear, and it’s a world. It’s coming from worldliness. This fear about speaking about Jesus is an expression of worldliness. And if there’s many things, yeah, we shouldn’t speak about, it’s just this wisdom. There’s many things we shouldn’t speak about. But when it comes to Jesus, we should speak. We should speak.
Let’s start speaking more about Jesus, not being afraid of offending somebody or making someone feel awkward. I mean, you can tell, okay, you can say it once. You get the vibe, the response, okay, that’s enough. But you planted a seed.
We can’t live in fear. The worldly system says, don’t mention the name of Jesus. You can say anything else on YouTube. But once you mention the name of Jesus, suddenly people get offended.
You can’t mention the name of Jesus because Jesus, he came to expose the works of evil from this world, and it’s not popular to do that.
Worldly people have a lot to say because they are seeking their own glory. That’s from John 7:18.
18 The one who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood. (John 7:18, ESV)
Jesus’ message was not popular, but he says, I’m not speaking on my own. I’m speaking what the father tells me, and I’m speaking not my own authority, not my own words, not my own message. But it’s coming from the father, and he gets all the glory. He gets all the persecution. It’s all from him.
But he says there’s a worldliness that can come out even in preaching. And it’s all, all for the glory of the speaker. And it’s trendy, and it’s popular, and it’s exciting, and it’s funny. And it’s. Is it from the Lord? Is it from the father?
Or is it just from that person who wants glory for himself or herself? As believers, we need to be careful. Who are we doing it for? This message that we’re sharing, is it from me or is it from the Heavenly Father?
Jesus. If we take our cues from him, he says, nothing I say is on my own authority. It’s from the Father, and it’s not popular. But I stand by what I hear, and that’s what I preach, and I’m doing it for his glory.
Religious, worldly religious people. And now there’s a blending of worldliness and religion. Not only do they have a lot to say that’s coming from themselves, they also look down on everybody else.
John 7. The Pharisees heard the crowd muttering these things about him because some in the crowd were wondering, is Jesus the Messiah? And he goes on to say, and the chief priests and the Pharisees sent officers to arrest him.
45 The officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, “Why did you not bring him?” 46 The officers answered, “No one ever spoke like this man!” 47 The Pharisees answered them, “Have you also been deceived? 48 Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him? 49 But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed.” 50 Nicodemus, who had gone to him before, and who was one of them, said to them, 51 “Does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does?” 52 They replied, “Are you from Galilee too? Search and see that no prophet arises from Galilee.” (John 7:45-52, ESV)
When worldliness mixes with religion. It’s a deadly combination. A deadly combination. And people who are speaking supposedly on behalf of God. But they have this worldliness in them. They look down on everybody.
You see it from these Jewish leaders. First, they look down on the officers and they say, are you deceived? Are you also deceived? We sent you, and we ordered you to arrest them. You didn’t arrest them. Are you deceived? They love to name call these worldly religious leaders.
And then they criticize the crowd. They look down on the crowd. They say, this crowd doesn’t know the law. They’re cursed. They know nothing.
We study the law. The scribes and the Pharisees, we know it. The crowd, they know nothing. They’re accursed.
And then they look down on Nicodemus. And Nicodemus is one of them. He just poses a question. How can we prejudge this man? Doesn’t he deserve a trial? Why are you acting this way?
And they know their scripture. The Messiah from Micah 5:2. They know the Messiah is supposed to come from Bethlehem. But as far as they know, he’s from Nazareth, in Galilee. And he says, are you from Galilee, too?
What these Jewish leaders did fail to realize is Jesus was born in Bethlehem. But he grew up in Nazareth. And so, from their perspective, he only came from Nazareth.
Like, I’m from New York. But most of you probably think I’m from Philadelphia. Because I only mentioned Philadelphia. It’s the same thing. Like, I was too young. I didn’t have any loyalty to New York. I moved to Philadelphia. That’s when I fell in love with Philly sports. And so probably all of you think I’m from Philly. I’m not. Same with Jesus.
He is from Bethlehem, but he grew up in Nazareth. And they know their scripture, but they totally miss this about the Messiah.
Worldly religious people also have a different father than the true followers of Jesus. John 8:39: They answered him, Abraham is our father. In a certain sense, it’s true. Abraham is a father of faith. He’s our forefather in a sense. But to say Abraham is our father? What is that like? When Abraham in heaven hears these Pharisees say, Abraham is our father, wouldn’t he cringe?
He must be cringing. Like, what do you mean? I’m your father. I came before you. I was a person of faith and you’re following in that faith paradigm. But I’m not your father.
But worldly religious people love to exalt man. Abraham, Moses, Isaac, Jacob. They have whatever favorite person in the Old Testament scripture, they will lift up this man, this woman. That’s a clear sign of a worldliness that is mixed in with religion. When you exalt a person, it happens.
Today, it’s your favorite theologian, your favorite YouTube preacher.
It’s your whoever, someone you listen to and you lift up this person. As my spiritual father, mother, I’m mentored, discipled by this person. We do disciple, but can we call anybody our father, our mother? Should we do that? I don’t think so.
And Jesus says in John 8:44.
44 You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. (John 8:44-45, ESV)
So the people who exalt man and say, that’s my father, if you get down to the core of it many times, could it be that we are following the father of this world, the father of lies, Satan himself?
And Jesus says, John 8:23.
23 He said to them, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. (John 8:23, ESV)
I am not of this world. And so now we want to start pivoting. That is all worldliness. And Jesus came to expose the evil works of this world, this system, and the religious system is part of it.
And no wonder Jesus, he was not embraced by the religious system of his day. He was an itinerant person wandering in the desert. He had no place to lay his head. He had no big following.
He didn’t have a building and a structure because he was utterly rejected by even his own. We read in John 1, and he says, I am not of this world.
And so as Christians, we are in this world, yes, but we are not of it. So we cannot be worldly Christians, worldly Christ followers. We must utterly abandon all traces of worldliness.
God hates sin, but he loves the sinner. Like the way that Jesus interacts with the woman caught in adultery. You see how the world reacts to her.
You see how the religious system reacts to her. You see how God the Father expressed through Christ reacts to this woman, a woman caught in adultery.
To the world, it’s like, welcome to the club. Everybody commits adultery. Everybody is addicted to things. We all commit sin. So welcome to the club. So what this woman did in terms of the world is like no big deal at all. And so that’s the worldly reaction.
Now, what’s the worldly religious reaction? Well, there’s a law in Moses that says she must be stoned. So they’re trying to trap Jesus.
They all have their stones in hand, and they’re ready to throw the stone. That’s the reaction of this world. And so Jesus is expressing God the Father’s reaction. He stoops down and wonder, I wonder what he’s doing in that moment.
I think he’s asking the father, how do you want me to respond to this mob, these religious leaders, these people who hate and put themselves above this person who fell morally. And during that time, when he has his finger on the ground, the father must have told him, why don’t you say this?
Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her. And one by one, they dropped the stones and walked away.
That’s coming from the Father. We see that God, He loves the sinner. He loves the sinner. No matter what you’re going through, no matter what kind of sin you’re in, God the Father loves you. God the Father loves you.
He also says, after all the mob had left, Jesus stood up in verse ten…
10 Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” 11 She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.” (John 8:10-11, ESV)
And for many Christians, we stop there and say, thank God, I’m not condemned. Thank God, I’m not condemned. And then we leave this place, and then we sin again. You come back next Sunday after a week of sinning, and we. And we get forgiven again. Thank God, I’m not condemned. And we stop there.
But Jesus, he doesn’t stop there. Since we’re in this world, but not of this world yet, first we live as forgiven sinners, it’s true, but we cannot stop there.
Then we need to progress and say, now is the time to sin no more. We are in this world, not of this world. So let’s walk as forgiven sinners. Let’s walk in freedom.
John 8:12.
12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12, ESV)
The more we know Jesus, he is the light. First, he exposes it, we repent of it. We’re not condemned because we fell into this sin.
We’re in this world, not of this world. He embraces us as a Father would embrace any one of his children who fell. And we’re forgiven. For those who repent and ask for forgiveness, there is forgiveness for you and me. But the more you fellowship with Jesus, who is light, we can start walking in the light, and that is walking in freedom.
John 8:31.
31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” 33 They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?” 34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. 35 The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. (John 8:31-36, ESV)
And so, if we’re truly children of God who are not of this world, in this world but not of it, and you have the word of God abiding in you, you’re fellowshipping with Jesus, who is the light of this world. It says we are no longer slaves to sin.So the freedom that is promised in Christ is a reality for us more and more and more.
And lastly, since we’re in this world but not of this world, let’s live fearlessly. Remember in the beginning when I said that some in the crowd thought Jesus was the Messiah. He’s a good man. We should listen to him. We should follow him.
But others in the crowd said he’s not. He’s a charlatan. He’s a fraud. And because the gatekeepers of society in this worldly system, this worldly religious system, hated Jesus, and for fear of being rejected by these gatekeepers, nobody spoke openly about Jesus.
If you’re going to live for Jesus, you’ll be rejected by this world. If you want to live for Jesus, the worldly religious system will also reject you. You will find yourself possibly lonely, possibly abandoned by family and friends. But there is no other way. There is no other way.
Jesus says if you want to follow me, you must live fearlessly, and we must be ready to be rejected and hated by this world. your own father, mother, siblings, and children may all turn on you because they don’t understand and know the Jesus that you know.
But we must be willing to stand with Jesus, to speak on Jesus’ behalf, to live fearlessly, forgiven. Yes, walking in freedom in this world, not of this world, but also living fearlessly for Christ.
Okay, let’s pray.
Father, thank you for reminding us of the dangers of worldliness that we all struggle with, even as believers. We understand your mission, Jesus. You came to save the world, but in so doing, you expose and call out the evil works of this world who are blinded by Satan, the father of lies. Even the worldly religious system is against you.
There’s many counterfeit Christs, many antichrists, and the true Christian were the target of all the hatred and the rejection of this world, because at core they are following their true father who hates Jesus.
We’re in this world, so, Lord, we are. Help us to be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves. Help us not to be of this world, Lord. We reject all worldliness in us. We repent of it.
Any desire to be appraised, any desire to be respected, any desire to have a following in this world. Lord, forgive us.
Lord, that is not of you. Lord, help us to know that we’re in this world, not of this world. That we’re forgiven, not condemned, but also you call us to leave our life of sin, to walk in freedom in increasing measure, day by day.
But Lord, we need to be more fearless for you. Forgive us for being afraid. Forgive us for being silent. Forgive us for being conscious of the glances of other people who will mutter under their breath. Because we are radically following Jesus in him alone, Father, there is no other way.
So, Lord, we forsake this world. We deny ourselves. We put all our eggs in the basket. We are following you and you alone.
Lord, we want to be. Even if people say we’re Jesus freaks, Jesus fanatics, so be it. Lord, you’re the name that we want to have on our lips. you, Father, may you receive all the glory in and through our lives.
So, Father, we want to represent you well, as Jesus did.
Followers of Jesus, we pray. We thank you for your body that was broken for us to save the sins of the world. Thank you for your blood that was shed for the forgiveness of all of our sins.
We pray that you minister to us as we partake in the Lord’s Supper. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
