Caught in the Act

Today, we're in week number two of this series, simple gospel. And specifically, I want to set everybody up, because we started talking about the fact that it's stories of the good news in action from the gospels in the good book, and just so we're all on the same page, I want us to know what the good news means. Gospel means simply good news, good news, gospel, gospel, good news. And I think it's so funny often times, because I grew up in a church that would have declared, we're preaching the gospel, but the only gospel I ever received from that church was, well, come to think of it, I didn't get any gospel from that church because it's the goodness of God that leads people to repentance. It's not the message of hell, fire and brimstone, it's not guilt, it's not manipulation, it's not fear tactics, it's not the preacher that says, look deep into my eye, brother, if you were to meet your maker this very evening, where would you go? Now we all know preachers like that. I can preach like that. In fact, I grew up preaching like that. I thought it was kind of fun for a while, until I realized you're pushing hell on people, not heaven. You know what I'm saying. We felt like the greatest tactic for preaching was to scare the hell out of somebody, rather than to tell them about the good news that Jesus provides through the gospel of grace. You hear what I'm saying. And so we just realized in all those churches that I had the opportunity to lead, in those rooms, that I had the opportunity to lead, they just stayed small. But now, well, now I'm not going to say that good news. Let me say good news from the Gospels. The gospels are the first four books of the New Testament. Old Testament was Old Covenant. New Testament, New Covenant. Before Jesus. After Jesus. Life without Jesus required us to sacrifice. Life with Jesus requires us to take on his sacrifice. How many of y'all know that's a good day. So we're going to be drawing from the Gospels, the good news from the Gospels, which are those first four books, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. It's the stories of Jesus and his life and ministry, death and resurrection that we'll be taking a look at from the good book. We believe that the Bible is the inerrant Word of God. We believe that it's inspired by God, written by men to be used now today by men, so that we can be inspired by God. The goal is the same inspiration from heaven, written by men, read by men, so that we could be inspired back to heaven. How many of y'all know that's good news? And you say it with a smile on your face? Even better news. Oh, it's good. Good news. If you got a Bible, you can open up to John chapter eight, and we'll get there in just a couple of minutes. Before we do, we're going to pray. Of course, you know, you can follow along on the mercy City Church app. All the notes are right there, the fill in the blanks and all the stuff. Or, of course, we'll throw it up on the screens here in just a minute. But let's pray, Father, we love you. We are so grateful for the wonderful opportunity we have this morning to be in your presence, God, we don't take it lightly. It's a big deal, and so we pray today that by the power of your Holy Spirit, that you would lead us, you would guide us, you would show us Jesus like we've never seen him before, God, because we know that it's upon revelation of who Jesus is that you'll build and establish your church. Father, again, always knowing that it's never about brick and mortar, it's not about a building, it's not about a location, it's about your people. And so God, I ask that you build your people today, that you inspire your people today, doing in us and through us, but only you can father, because we know that that portion of scripture in Matthew chapter 16, says that when we receive revelation of Jesus, that the gates of hell will not prevail against us. Father, thank You that you're raising up men and women, sons and daughters who will push back against the things of. Hell here on earth that your kingdom might advance and be made known in Jesus, Mighty Name, Amen, amen, amen. Come on, everybody, give Jesus a great big hand clap of praise. He is worthy. So like I said, we're going to jump into John chapter number eight, John, chapter number eight, I'm going to preach a message called, is this the gospel? Look at your neighbor and say, Is this the gospel? Is this the gospel? Jesus returned to the Mount of Olives, but early the next morning, he was back again at the temple. A crowd soon gathered, and he sat and taught them, as he was speaking, the teachers of religious law and Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery, somebody, say, caught in the act, caught in the act, not just any act, like the act of adultery. How many y'all know that's a bad day? Typically, I don't know if you know this. I have limited experience, mostly just from movies or that's not true growing up, but I had some experience with this, unfortunately, typically, when people commit adultery, they do it in a way that they try to remain secretive. But this sister was caught in the act. It wasn't a secret anymore. So they the religious leaders, the Pharisees, put her in front of the crowd. Teacher, they said to Jesus, this woman was caught in the act, let me say, caught in the act of adultery, caught in the act of adultery. So typically, they try to hide it. And typically, I don't know if you know this, and you know I am sorry if you didn't take your kids to children's church, but I just gotta say this, because this is grown folk talking. So we're just going to talk about grown folks stuff. When you are in the act of what we are talking about here, you typically are not covered. You're uncovered. So they caught her in the act, and they took her immediately to be put in front of the crowd before Jesus. So I would venture to say that she was uncovered in front of everybody, in front of the world, in front of God, in front of country, in front of friend, in front of foe. She was uncovered. She was caught in the act. Let me say caught in the act. Let me tell you something. When you're caught in the act, you don't need to stand trial. You don't need to be brought in front of somebody. You are guilty. No trial was necessary. There was absolutely no question as to whether or not she needed to stand trial. There was no question what needed to happen. She deserved whatever she had coming her way. But can I tell you something? This is the type of stuff that ticks me off about church. This is the type of stuff that gives me a little belly full of church folk. This is the type of stuff that makes me want to look at church and be like, I don't want to be a part of any of this. I don't want to be a part of you. This is the type of stuff that fires me up. First of all, it's a religious spirit. And here's what a religious spirit does, a religious spirit always sets an impossible standard, one that somebody could never actually attain. But you know what ticks me off even more than the impossible standard that the religious spirit demands or sets for people is that it doesn't actually apply to everybody. It might apply to you or you or you, but not you, you or you. That doesn't make any sense to me. If it applies, shouldn't it apply like if this woman wasn't supposed to commit adultery, shouldn't it apply to the man who was obviously committing adultery to like, Where was the man? How did the woman be exposed in all of her shame, in embarrassment and pain, come in front of a public tribe, but the man, where was he at? What? Where was where was the man? You ever read the story and thought, Where was his brother? But I don't even know if that's the best question. I think maybe the more important question is this, who was this brother? I. He must have had some kind of position that was prominent. Maybe he was a religious leader, maybe he was a teacher of the law, maybe he was a politician. But why wasn't he there? Why wasn't he there? This is why religion stirs me up, fires me up, man, because it demands something of one person that it doesn't demand of another person. Can I tell you why I wasn't there? Because religion's only aim is to prove a point, not prove righteous. Therefore, religion requires a scapegoat, requires a fall guy, someone to make an example of, so that it can prove its point. But can I tell you something about religion? The playing field is never level. It never makes sense. That's why people look at the church and they got so many problems. Well, they say one thing, but they do another thing. It's religion. It's not the gospel. It's religion. It's rules, it's form, it's fashion, it's not power. Also that we can prove a point, not prove righteous through the person of Jesus Christ. It doesn't make sense. I firmly believe that people don't say no to church because they don't want Jesus. I think that people say no to church because they don't want anything to do with the people who claim Jesus, because we settle for a list of rules and regulations rather than relationship with the person of Jesus. This is what Jesus came to overcome. He came to overcome the spirit of religion. He came to offer himself the scapegoat in our place, in order to offer us relationship with our Heavenly Father. That's why Jesus came. Verse five goes on to say this, the law of Moses says, to stone her. What do you say? Religious people or religious spirit, always wants to be governed by the grace of God, but it wants everyone else to be governed by the great, by the law. I look at you as somebody who operates in a spirit of religion, and I want you to give me grace. Well, can't you just be easy on me, but when it comes time to stand in judgment of you, I want you to be measured against the law, not by the grace that I think I deserve for myself. Well, God's grace that covers all except for when you sin. Because when you sin, you are a dirty, rotten scoundrel. When you sin, you deserve the worst. But when I sin, can't you just be easy on me? Can't you just forgive me? It's the spirit of religion. It's not the gospel. The spirit of religion hopes that people get what they deserve rather than getting the price Jesus paid. Verse six goes on to say what they were trying to do was trap him into saying something that they could use against him. They were trying to prove a point. That's what religion does. But Jesus stooped down and he wrote in the dust. I said this last week. Say it again. I think this is so dope. I love reading the stories of Jesus again. I just think Jesus has a little bit of gangster in him, you know what? I mean, like, a little bit of like, you know, I mean, like, just, just a little bit of that. They're like, what do you say, Jesus? This is what she did. What do you say? Because, according to the law, we'll walk the band, this, that and the third, and Jesus just looks at him, and he stoops down and he starts writing in the dirt. The Bible doesn't tell us what Jesus is writing. We have no idea what Jesus is writing. Our best guesses probably fall way short. I mean, I don't know. Was he writing his grocery list for later? We don't know. He could have been writing anything. He could have been drawing a stick figure. He could have been a really good artist and just been practicing his dirt art. I don't, we don't know. We don't know. We don't. We don't know what Jesus was writing, but I do have a couple of guesses. I wonder if Jesus wasn't writing something like,  I wonder if Jesus wasn't writing some of the most well known scriptures about the mercy of God. I was I wonder if he wasn't writing about some of these things where the Bible says that all paths of the Lord lead to mercy and truth, all paths of the Lord lead to mercy and truth, all paths that aren't the Lord probably lead to judgment and lies. I wonder if he wasn't referencing a scripture where it said, hey, the one who confesses and is forsaken will obtain mercy, not judgment. I wonder if he wasn't referencing some scripture potentially, as he was stooped down, not answering the question. See, what religion does is religion always demands a response to the foolishness it lives in you want to find out if somebody has a religious spirit don't respond to their nonsense and see how they respond. Just be quiet. Don't go anywhere. Just stay quiet. Verse seven goes on to say they kept demanding an answer. So we stood up again, and he said, All right, I got an idea. I got an idea. You know what? You're right. This is what the law demands. So here's what we're going to do. We're going to go ahead and get a circle, and the one who has no sin is going to be the one who throws the first stone. Let's go he I can just Jesus, just picking up rocks, throwing them at the at the boys. I can see him hitting him in a little stomach and dropping to the ground, because they know that they have sinned, and they know that because of their sin, they couldn't possibly throw the first stone. Jesus knew in his deity, he knew that as the Son of God, he was the only one that had the right to pick up a stone and throw it, and he knew in his deity that he was the only one who wouldn't. So he says, Okay, I gotta let's play a game. Let's play a game. The one who has no sin, you be the first one to throw it. You got your good church clothes on, why don't you throw first? You got you got here on time today. Why don't you throw first? And then he stooped down and he wrote in the dust again. What do you think he was writing in the dust? What did he write in the dust? I want to know. I think maybe he started writing a list of names. Matt, you're not qualified to throw a stone Carrie, you're not qualified to throw a stone. Cassius, you're not qualified. Kelsey Brock, no chance.  Everybody knows pastor Brock, oh. Seth, not Pat Nope. Lila, I think he might have been writing some names in the dust. He was writing some names in the dust, and as he's writing these names, people are realizing, oh, that's me, and I slip away. Oh, that's me. I'm not qualified to do this. Must slip away. When the accusers heard this, they begin to slip away, one by one, beginning with the oldest until Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman. Jesus then stands up. He says to the woman, where are your accusers? Didn't even one of them condemn you. No, Lord, she said. And Jesus said, so neither do I go and sin no more. Go and sin, no more. Go and sin no more. Can I tell you something that really fires me up about a religious spirit, a religious spirit will let you go, but it will convince you that you're coming right back because you're going to sin again. We sit in our little groups and we talk about our addiction. We say, It's okay, brother, we'll be back here next week talking about the same thing. That's not the gospel, that's religion. Look. Gospel says, Go and sin no more. Go and sin no more. Go on the path that I put you on. You don't have to sin anymore. Romans, chapter eight, verse 12, says that those of us who are in the spirit have no obligation to our sin nature. So who I was pre Christ, the addictive behaviors, the dysfunction, the disappointment, all of the stuff. I'm not obligated to that anymore. I'm only obligated to the spirit of life that now dwells on the inside of me. Oh, well, you know what? You're in high school, you're going to go through that stuff. You're in college, you're going to navigate those things. Wrong answer, that's not the gospel, that's religion. Religion tells you that you're going to be stuck in bondage. The Gospel tells you that you are going to be stuck in freedom. You can go and sin no more. You've got what it takes. It's on the inside of you. Jesus is not going to encourage you to do something that he wouldn't empower you to be able to do. That's not the games that he that's the games of religion. That's not the games of the Gospel. The Gospel says I've got the power and the life to give you to go and sin no more. I love this. Can I tell you when the gospel is in action, people who carry a religious spirit are easily revealed. Here are some things you can see that will reveal if somebody's operating in a spirit of religion or in the spirit of the gospel. A spirit of religion always demands something that's not the gospel. It demands judgment. It demands judgment. It demands it now. Well, what do you say? And say it now? But we don't do judgment with the gospel. We only do mercy. We don't do judgment. I know somebody did you wrong at that last place. I know that last marriage did you dirty? But here's the deal, don't come talking to me, because I'm not casting judgment. We're going to embrace in mercy. That's all I got as somebody who operates in the Gospel. It doesn't matter how hurt my feelings are, it doesn't matter how disappointed I was. It doesn't matter about how much they are currently talking about it, no matter we're not judgment people, we're gospel people, and we extend mercy. God is so rich in mercy that yet, while you were disconnected in death, stuck and caught in your sin, He sent His Son Jesus for you and for me. And if he did it for me, he can do it for them too. And my prayer is that nobody lives their lives eternally disconnected from God. That's the good news. That's the good news. But people in religion will stand in judgment. People who are caught in religion will expose themselves, because they'll operate in accusation. They'll point fingers well when you said or when you did, you're a bad person. You're this or that. That's not what the gospel does. The Gospel addresses the truth. Now, the Gospel doesn't leave things the way that they are. Listen hear me. Hear me. The Gospel doesn't leave things the way that they are. It addresses the truth of the situation. Hey, there needs some adjustment here. This is less than you. This is beneath you as a child, as a daughter, as a son of God. This is beneath you, and the gospel will call the truth out in you to help you rise above and go and sin no more, but accusation says You're terrible. You don't have what it takes. You're not good enough. That's not what the Gospel says. You do have what it takes. You are good enough. You're not terrible, you're actually amazing. You're actually fearfully and wonderfully made, created in the image of God. Here you are afraid, naked and ashamed. Feel like you're put on blast in front of everybody, being exposed, and God says you got what it takes. You're more than a conqueror in Christ Jesus, Greater is He who is in you than he who is against you? That's the gospel. Religion will do something the gospel would never do. Religion will leave without a word of honor see the religion that had the Pharisees, bring this woman out to be publicly humiliated. Now, all of a sudden, because they've been exposed, want to privately slip, slip away, but that's. What religion does. Religion wants you to be publicly put on blast, but then when it comes back on them or it it wants to privately slip away, and so it leaves without a word of honor. Can I tell you what the gospel does? The Gospel always comes in with a word of honor, and it always leaves with a word of honor. Had they responded to the Gospel, these men would have went to Jesus and said, You know what, you're right. We're wrong. We see the error of our ways. But they didn't do that. They slipped away silently, and that's what religion does. It slips away silently, and then it goes and finds this little religious cohorts, and it talks in the corner, sends a few little DMS. Y'all know I'm talking about, talks about things the water cooler brings things up in the name of, we need to be praying. Brother, well, you didn't say a word, and now you want to pray. Don't try to, don't try. Don't try to sell me sin and convince me it's righteousness, because it's not. It's not. Is this the gospel, the life that I'm living right now? Is this the gospel? Here are two ways to know, two ways to know. Is this the gospel, or is it religion? Religion requires recompense. Religion says things like, I need to make amends. I need to make that right. I need to compensate for the loss. I need to compensate for the harm. And I'm here to tell you that recompense is not a bad thing. In some cases, it may even be necessary, however, however recompense, without repentance, makes me the Savior and not Jesus. I gotta make it right with people. You gotta make it right with people, if it's only that, then you're the Savior, and what you're doing is you're effectively telling Jesus, thank You for the price that you paid. That's good for Josh. Thank you for the price you paid. That's good for John. That's good for Kelly. Thank you for the price that you paid. That's good for so and so. But it's not good enough for me. I have to pay the price. I have to carry the weight of this, I have to live under the weight of this sin so that I won't forget and go back. Can I tell you what you live under the weight of that it's going to crush you and you're going to go right back, and it's going to be worse than it ever was before. Religion will always try to get from you something that you can never afford, but the gospel always tries to get something to you that you could never afford. Religion will require something of you that you could never afford, but the gospel always tries to get something to you that you could never afford. Second thought is this, the Gospel requires repentance. There is a requirement of the gospel. Some people will try to teach you that man, it's free, it's free and it is free, but there's a life change that's required. The gift of salvation is free,  but the gift of transformation that God's calling us to is not it requires repentance. And repentance is this specifically, it's not that I'm sorry. Some people will try to tell God I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Remember, I told this old boy in Georgia. I was like, Ah, Brother, I'm sorry. He said, You are sorry. No, I mean, I'm sorry. He said, Yeah, you are sorry. I said, What? He said with an attitude like that, you're going to stay sorry forever. I was like, Okay, I don't get it. He's like, Don't live. Sorry. Live. Changed. An apology doesn't just say I'm sorry, it says I'm going to change. Repentance doesn't just say I'm sorry, it says I'm going to change. Think about it. When you and your spouse are at odds, they're not looking for you to be sorry. They're looking for you to change. You're not looking for them to be sorry. You're looking for them to change. You have issues at home. You're not looking for somebody to be sorry. You're looking for change and transformation. That's what we're looking for. We're looking for repentance. That's what repentance is. Repentance is change. In fact, that word, the prefix re, means to go again. Okay, like go again. Pent is where we find the root word for penthouse, or a top view. The Bible says that God's ways are higher than ours. That is his His ways are higher than ours. So what are we doing? When we repent, we're going again to a higher view, a view where we're seeing things from the top down, rather than from the bottom up. When we see things the way that God wants us to see them, our minds will ultimately change. See God has transformation for our lives. Transformation has the gospel changed your life? If the gospel hasn't changed your life, I hate to tell you, but I don't know that you've encountered the gospel. If the gospel only changes your second service time slot, then you haven't experienced the gospel. You're probably experiencing religion.See, God's not going to want you to talk about your church attendance when you stand before he's going to want you to talk about your life change. This is what happened in my marriage. This is what happened with my kids. This is what happened in my neighborhood, God, because of your goodness, because of the gospel, I stood before you, I deserve the worst, but you gave me the best. I came expecting you to hammer me down, but all you did was build me up. I came and I expected those people to just take from me and take from me and take from me, but all they did was build with me and build with me and build with me. That's the gospel, that's the good news. That's what changes our lives, not religion, but it requires repentance. So here's what I want to ask you, is your go to right now? Is your go to? Is it religion, or is it the gospel? Is it judgment, or is it mercy? Is it recompense or repentance? And has the gospel changed you like when you leave today? Are you leaving differently? Does the gospel just affect your Sunday morning or does it affect your Monday morning, your Tuesday evening, your Wednesday at lunchtime? Does it change the way that you stand in judgment against people who deserve judgment? She deserved judgment. But this is what I love about the gospel, the gospel always gives us a mismatching experience. Doesn't get us what we deserve. It gives us the price that Jesus paid. Is my go to right now? Is it judgment? They they they better get what they deserve. Pastor Carrie and I the way that we're naturally wired. We think that people should get what they deserve, and I have to fight this every time somebody does me wrong, every time somebody does something wrong, I want them to get what they deserve, even just for a moment. But that's not the gospel, it's not the gospel, it's religion and it's judgment. You think we named this church mercy City Church, just because we always operate in mercy? No, it's because deep down in my heart of hearts, disconnected from Jesus, I am a religious Pharisee that desperately needs to be reminded that we are not people who give people what they deserve. We give people what Jesus paid for mercy. You want to get me to fight? Let's stand in a place of judgment. Something violently takes place on the inside of me, because God, by His grace, has hard wired me to change my response, thank God. My life is transformed. The gospel has taken root, and that's what I want for all of us, because there are 1000s of people who are far from God, and they need to know the mercy of God. They need to know the gospel. Is this the gospel is what I'm living, the gospel. I. Going to pray here in just a minute. As I do, our prayer teams are going to come forward. I want you to leave knowing you're not alone and nobody's standing in judgment of you. You're not alone and nobody's standing in judgment of you. So I'm going to pray. Our prayer teams are going to respond. My heart is and I know that many of you can respond, and some have somebody pray with you.
Today is the day that everything changes, that you have the mismatching experience where you thought you were coming in to get one thing just go through church motions. No, we don't really do church motions here. This is, this is gospel time. This is good, good news, man, today, everything can change, but it's going to require repentance. So with every head bowed and every eye closed, let me pray for you, father. Thank you so much for your wonderful opportunity to be here, for us to hear your voice, to be exposed to your presence. God, not only do we not want to be people who receive judgment, we don't want to give judgment, Father, the areas of religion that we've settled for, God, I pray that you would break them with the power of the gospel, where we've been older brothers, but you called us to be younger, where we're just pursuing you passionately under the power of Your grace and Your goodness, God, I pray that you move us, that you stir us, that you transform us, that we would leave this place differently than the way we came in. Do in us. Oh God, do through us. Oh God, what only you can in Jesus name. Thank you.