John 8:1-11
Sunday Morning – 23 Dec 2018 10:54:56 am – Pastor James Yang
Jesus did not only come down to take away our sins but to take away all our problems as well. Even though you may say you believe in Jesus, but you still carry your own burdens does not mean you believe in Jesus. There must be the healthy relationship and fellowship with Jesus in the heart.
The bible is generally written in the present perfect tense (example will be shown soon). The bible talks about the realms of eternity where as most of us dwell in the realms of time. Now, the bible does not specify the exact date of the birth of Jesus. We know it as 25 December. But Jesus came down to actually wash away our sins. This is very significant.
In the Old Testament, if we work on the Sabbath day, the penalty is death. During the time of Moses, people who worked were actually killed. The bible talks about how Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath. Now, as we receive Jesus into our hearts, should we still be at work? No! If we have Jesus in our heart, we should not be at work but we should be at rest rather.
In John 8, the woman caught in the very act adultery (WCA) was to be stoned to death. But when she was dragged to Jesus Christ, then Jesus asked those who were ready to stone her, “He who is without sin among you, be the first to throw a stone at her” and one by one, the people dropped the stones and left. With this one Word, Jesus saved the woman. If you know who you truly are, then you will be the one who will have no complaints towards anything and you will be able to judge no one.
Jesus stooped down on the ground to write twice. He was able to explain the mystery to the WCA who understood that she was moved from the law to the world of grace.
Jacob once was running away towards Padan Aram and on the way he fell asleep in the place called Luz. There he dreamt that there was a long ladder from earth to heaven and the angels were coming up and down via the ladder. There, God promised Jacob that He would be with him wherever he went. God transferred His heart to Jacob who became truly happy.
In Padan Aram, Jacob dwelt with his uncle. As he worked for seven years for the hand of Rachel, it was time for him to get married. But on the following morning he discovered that the woman he married was actually Leah and not Rachel. So when he complained to his uncle, who said that it was tradition that the first should be married, he agreed with Jacob to have him work for another seven years. So Jacob did so.
In the end, Jacob complained that his uncle Laban had tried to change his wages ten times. Laban saw clearly that he was blessed because of Jacob. So when Jacob left his household with Leah and Rachel and all the livestock that belonged to Jacob, Laban tried to chase Jacob and get him back. But God spoke to Laban saying “Do not speak to him anything good or bad”. This is so thankful as it means that when God is protecting us, no man can ever hurt us.
Last Friday, we did the Christmas Cantata rehearsal. When I saw all the practice sessions, all I could think about was the Lord. I could only rely on Him. So in the car park, I could only pray to the Lord. “Lord, you have to make this beautiful. The 1,000 people are coming. Lord, I only rely upon you”.
I spoke about Jenny in the Christmas Cantata who was hospitalised because of a mental disease. She kept hearing voices about not to eat, not to listen to people, etc. I spoke about how she got healed from it. I told her to counter-attack and not to listen to the voices she was hearing. This was the only way for her to be out of the hospital. So she began to counter-attack one by one and eventually she got released from the hospital. Now she is so healthy. I am so thankful as I watched her perform in the Christmas Cantata last night. I am so thankful to be a pastor and this is such a priceless thing.
Once I met a Muslim person. He asked me about Christianity and I told him that the difference in Christianity is that it is the only faith that prophesied Christ even before He was born. But in other religion, the religion only commences after the founder dies – e.g. Mohammed, Buddha, etc.
Let me tell you how the sins are cleansed in the Old Testament. Firstly, the sinner will have to bring a lamb without any blemish to the high priest. The priest will then slaughter the lamb on the sinner’s behalf and cover the horns of the altar with the blood. Then the lamb will be sacrificed to the Lord. This was how the sins of the sinner were cleansed.
Now, in the New Testament, John the high priest said this – “Behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” – John 1:29. The lamb of God is actually Jesus Christ. And now since Jesus has been sacrificed on the cross, the sins of the world are not finished.
I shared this scripture with the president of Kiribati and he was so surprised. He did not know this. Finally, after listening to the gospel, he could agree with it and say that he was in fact righteous.
After Jesus died on earth, He had to go to heaven so that He could put His own blood on the tabernacle in heaven in order to attain perfect salvation for us.
“But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.
how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?”
Hebrews 9:11-12, 14 NKJV
“then He said, “Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God.” He takes away the first that He may establish the second. By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
“This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them,” then He adds, “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.””
Hebrews 10:9-10, 16-17 NKJV
“Now where there is remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin.”
Hebrews 10:18 NKJV
God is telling us that there is no more offering for sin.
“Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.”
I Corinthians 6:9-11 NKJV
Here it says that we are washed, sanctified and justified. So many of us still try to do this. This means that we do not believe in what God has done.
“For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.”
Romans 5:19 NKJV
We were sinners without choice. And like so, we have been made righteous without anything to do with us.
Many churches in the world teach people to believe in Jesus. At the same time, they also teach people that they are still sinners. This is just wrong.
Look, if you are so full with food, can you eat more? Likewise, if you are filled with the heart of Jesus Christ, then you have no more appetite for sins.
When my son was 8 years old and my daughter was 5 years old, my wife was diagnosed to have cancer in her uterus. The specialist said that there was no hope.
So I had the heart that if she dies, I would not be able to continue with my ministry. From Monday to Friday that time, my wife cried. I searched for faith from Genesis to Hebrews at that time but I just could not accept the word in my heart. The most difficult time is this – when we do not have the Word of God in our heart. Even though I tried to look for faith, I could not find it as much as I tried. And then, 2 Timothy 2:4 struck my heart and came to me.
“No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier.”
II Timothy 2:4 NKJV
It was around Friday 4pm. My wife asked me, “Do you have faith, honey, that I would be healed?” And I replied “Of course! Yes, I do! You are already healed”. With faith, folks, we can say such things with absolute clarity.
On the following day, we went to the specialist’s office. My wife was checked up and I was sitting in the corridor. I overheard the conversation between the nurse and the speciality.
“Doctor, the tumour is gone!” The nurse said.
“What? Impossible, search for it again!”, the doctor said.
And when the nurse gave the same answer, the doctor took over and examined the chart for himself. He looked and looked and then came out to confirm the details.
“Ma’am…you are Mrs. Kim so and so, right? You are female and aged so and so right?”, the doctor asked.
As much as he checked, the tumour was no where to be found. And I gained this heart, “I knew it already yesterday at around 4pm”.
And indeed, the specialist confirmed that day that the cancer was all gone. He said that he had never experienced this and was very bewildered.
When you meet with the Word of God, then you will realise that all your problems are gone.
One day sister Yury came to me with a problem. She told me that she has this very serious episode of panic attack.
“But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.”
Isaiah 53:5 NKJV
There is sister Yury here and she had panic attack. She had it for quite some time. So she asked me to pray for her one morning. But I did not. Because if I pray for her, it means that I do not believe in the Word that she is already healed.
“But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.”
Isaiah 53:5 NKJV
As per this Word, she was already healed. So I told her this Word and asked her to leave without praying. I only wanted to establish the Word in her heart. So she said “Amen” and she left. However, a few days later, her husband came to me and told me that she has had the worst panic attack ever after that. However, I still did not pray because the Word already said that she was healed. A few days later, she came back and told me that she was healed completely by faith. Then only I prayed for her glorifying the Lord. She used to believe that even though she was healed, she could still have symptoms. But I told her that she had to believe in her heart that she was healed completely. And she did and now she is truly healed.
If you are able to receive the Word of the Lord, then the Word of the Lord can work for you.
There are people however, who are still the same year after year. This is because they have no been able to receive the Word into their hearts. They just receive it in the head.
So how to you receive the Word in your heart?
In the bible are clean and unclean animals. The clean animals have divided hooves. They also chew the cud. Christians are able to divide the line and operate clearly in the Word. They divide the circumstance from the Word. They also have the Word in their head.