Let Your Light Shine

I. Caught! John 8: 3-12

 Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, ⁴ they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. ⁵ Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?” ⁶ This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear.

⁷ So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” ⁸ And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. ⁹ Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. ¹⁰ When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, “Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?”

¹¹ She said, “No one, Lord.”

And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”

¹² Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”

A. Guilty: The woman was guilty of adultery. Caught in the act. So, where is the man? The Law of Moses says that both are to be stoned. Jesus did not ask about the man, but I do.

B. Forgiven: I wonder what Jesus was writing on the ground? Secret sins of those who were present? I don’t know. What I do know is that they all slipped away. Then Jesus, who could have thrown the first stone offered forgiveness instead.

C. Instructed: The woman was then told to go and sin no more. Notice it was not Go ahead and sin, you will be forgiven. It was go and sin no more.

This is a bit of a challenge when you think about it. Committing adultery is one thing. Many of us go our entire lives without committing this particular sin. I believe that the woman could not again commit adultery.

I believe that the true challenge goes beyond that.

II. Self-Discipline: I Corinthians 9:24-27

Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. ²⁵ And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. ²⁶ Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. ²⁷ But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.

The Olympics were completed recently. In order to participate in the Olympics a person must be very dedicated to their sport. They make many sacrifices to be the very best that they can be.

Only one wins in each category, unless, of course it is a team sport, then one team wins.

Some people respond to the carrot. You know, the promise of reward. For Christians, heaven is the ultimate prize.

Some people respond to the stick. The threat of punishment. It doesn’t get any worse than hell.

Paul is encouraging us to be self-disciplined, to live the lives that we were meant to live.

I do not believe that we can achieve a life with no sin, but I do believe that we can grow in godliness. We should reach for the goal of being more like Christ.

III. Escape! I Corinthians 10:12-13

 Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. ¹³ No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.

I remember when I was a young man in Bible college, there were a number of prominent Christian leaders who fell into adultery. I am certain that none of them planned on it, or thought that they would do such a thing. Yet they did.

It could happen to you. Or me.

Again, adultery is not the only sin that we are to avoid. We should seek to repent of any known sin in our lives and seek to ‘sin no more’.

I also think that when we do fall, we can learn from it. We can review what happened and try to see where we missed the ‘way of escape’.

Then we try again.

This is not meant to be an attempt to earn our salvation. Salvation is a gift. It is however, an attempt to live out our salvation. We were in darkness, now we are in the light.

I will close with Matthew 5:16

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

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These are the sermon notes from the message that I preached on 8/15/21. All scriptures are from the New King James Version of the Bible.

This weeks memory verses are a choice. You can do John 8:12, I Corinthians 10:12 or both.

If you would like to view the message as it was preached you can view it at: https://www.facebook.com/116005455113481/videos/1185356305306417