Free Your Soul: The Pathway To Serenity Lies In God’s Truth

Reverend Leo H. McCrary II

Serenity is real but you should never think you can find it living according to man’s system.

Introduction 

Serenity is real, and those who find it do so because they sought the Lord and He gave them rest.  As Jesus promised, if you are heavy laden and go to Him, He will take away what ails your soul.  Sadly, many of us aren’t seeking Him today, causing us to remain weary and weighed down in our souls.  We must free ourselves from that which is keeping us from living in serenity.   

Revelation of Man’s System vs. God’s Way

There are a few revelations that I wish to share with you in this week’s message.  These revelations come from when the scribes and Pharisees brought a woman, whom they had caught in the act of adultery, before Jesus and set her in the midst (John 8:3). 

This act reveals to us the two groups that lived in the world during those days and are still living in the world today.  The scribes and Pharisees are of the group that thinks themselves to be high and mighty.  The woman is in a group that would be considered “the lowly”.

A cruel and merciless system

  Now, I want you to pay close attention to this incident, as more will be revealed to us.  

In John 8:4-5, we will see them speak to Jesus about Moses’ law, stating that the law said the woman should’ve been stoned to death for her sin.  Now, do I believe that this woman had done wrong?  Sure.  However, to me, there is something that just doesn’t sit right with these religious leaders catching her in the act and bringing her to Jesus for sport.  Imagine how awful she must have felt in this moment!

The religious leaders sought to see if Jesus would agree with their law.  To get Him to agree, they said their intentions were according to “Moses’ Law”, the law of God. Yet, one must understand that they had twisted and bent Moes’ law into their image.  So, the truth of the matter is that they wanted to see if Jesus would be obedient to their rules— their way of living.

Now, I want you to consider what has been revealed about their system, as it is a reflection of man’s system – a system that is present in our world today.  These men had exercised their power and authority over the woman.  Man’s system is a system that is built on power and control.  

With the religious leaders exercising their “power and authority” over the woman, we see a revelation of how the high and mighty love to exercise their so-called power and authority.  Just consider our society, and you will see how the “high and mighty” love to flex their “muscles”.  In man’s system, the lowly are expected to live in obedience to the power of the high and mighty, or else.

Does that sound like a wonderful system to you?  A system that has no heart!  A system that is without mercy and grace!  A system that is without forgiveness! A system that implies one must be perfect or else they will be looked down on by the high and mighty!  Who actually wants to be a part of such a system?

A system of understanding, mercy, and grace

In John 8:7, as the religious leaders continued to badger Jesus, trying to get Him to pick up a stone and stone the woman.  We are told that Jesus raised Himself from the ground and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.”

In this statement, we see Jesus revealing His way – God’s way.  Jesus pointed out that nobody is without sin – nobody is perfect.  In this revelation, I want you to see that Jesus was showing great understanding of who we are!  

Then, in John 8:10-11, after the religious leaders had dropped their stones, I want you to pay close attention to what Jesus does next.  Jesus asked the woman where her accusers were and if she had been condemned by them.  She had been left standing alone, as the religious leader had retreated.   

I can imagine that this woman had been trembling at the thought that her life was about to end.  I can imagine her truly freaking out when she heard the stone dropping to the ground, yet, she had not been hit by any of them.  Jesus then said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”

There is a revelation that in God’s way, there is an understanding that we are sinful creatures.  There is a revelation that in God’s way, there is mercy and grace!  In other words, there is uplifting rather than tearing down in God’s way.  How wonderful does this way sound in comparison to man’s heartless system?

Jesus then spoke out and said, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life (John 8:12).”  To receive the light of life means that one is being free from that which ails the soul and receiving life in their soul.  So, Jesus is inviting one to live burden-free, in serenity, by following Him!

The question that one must answer is whether or not they will choose to accept Jesus’ wonderful invitation.  Will you accept Jesus’ invitation to live burden-free in your heart?  Will you choose to live in His serenity?

Serenity Blocked from the High and Mighty

In John 8:13, the scribes and Pharisees spoke to Jesus about His witness and His truth.  They said to Jesus, “You bear witness of Yourself; Your witness is not true.”

Does it sound like they were accepting Jesus’ invitation to live in serenity?  Absolutely not.  The scribes and Pharisees rejected Jesus’ invitation.  Honestly, it is rare that the high and mighty ever consider and accept Jesus’ invitation to live in His serenity.  Why is that?

Blocked by self-righteousness

Well, the religious leaders didn’t believe Jesus’ truth because they believed in their own truth.  In fact, to take it a step further, they didn’t believe they needed Jesus.  You see, in their minds, these men were not only above the woman, but they were above Jesus as well!  In their minds, they already had better than what Jesus was offering!

Now, the thought that they already had better than what Jesus was offering is very fascinating.  You see, if these men were truly living burden-free, in serenity, why were they so bothered and burdened by Jesus?  We know that they were bothered by Jesus because everywhere He went, they were there!  Jesus could be out in the middle of nowhere, and they would be there!

I truly am amazed by those who think themselves high and mighty, living in serenity, yet they always move with great haste, bothered about something.  Those who supposedly have wealth are often the most greedy, wanting more wealth.  Those who supposedly have power often crave more power.

One truly living in serenity wouldn’t be so pressed to gain more.  One truly living in serenity wouldn’t be so pressed to keep up their image.  One truly living in serenity wouldn’t be so bothered by those around them!    The high and mighty don’t have serenity and can never have it!

You see, true serenity can only be found in God’s way.  The self-righteous blocks themselves from God’s serenity because they truly believe their way is better.

Slaves to a detrimental system

The self-righteous heart is too weighed down to know serenity.  In John 8:34, Jesus pointed out to the religious leaders that they had become slaves to sin.  You see, the system that they governed themselves by was a system built on sin.

Man’s system is a system that is built on the works of the flesh.  As Paul said, those works are evident in hatred, contentions, jealousies, and selfish ambitions (Gal. 5:19-21).  In the case of the religious leaders, they despised Jesus and were willing to use an innocent bystander in their harmful game!

We see such a system at work in our society!  Sin sets the heart against its neighbor!  Consider the efforts of the high and mighty against the lowly today and how they cover it up in doing what is best for people like them.  Consider how many “Christians” are set against their neighbors today, when the way they supposedly believe in is a way built on love and grace!

Have we become slaves of a sinful system?  There are many who say they believe in the Lord, but their actions say that their faith is not in God!  

If you’re one to think that man’s system is better than God’s way, consider answering these questions:  How many people are truly living burden-free by man’s system?  How many people are living in true prosperity by man’s system?  How many people are truly leveling up in man’s system?

I repeat, man’s system is a detrimental system to those who live in it.  I cry out to anyone who truly believes man’s system is the system to live by and prosper.  To the high and mighty, the self-righteous, I cry out to you today, telling you that you must break free from this system if you truly desire to live in serenity.   

Serenity Blocked from the Lowly

Here’s where I remind you that the offer to receive the light of life was not just to the scribes and Pharisees.  Keep in mind that the woman was present and those like the woman were also present.  The offer of living in serenity has been offered to the lowly as well.  

I truly do thank the Lord that the offer of living in serenity has been made to us lowly folks!  Why is that?  Well, let’s look back at John 8:3 and put ourselves into this woman’s place.

Surrendering to the system

Again, the woman had been caught in the act of adultery, which we can believe she did as she never denied it.  So, she did wrong, yet I feel I must ask this question:  Was she not worthy of mercy and grace?  You see, this question is why I am so thankful that God has offered us an invitation to live in His serenity.

You see, the scribes and Pharisees didn’t believe she was worthy of receiving mercy and grace because of her sin.  Again, they used their “power” and “authority” over this woman.  This woman, caught in her wrongs, surrendered herself to their power and authority.  I want you to understand that she had put her fate into the hands of these wicked and self-righteous men!

Sometimes when I read this scripture, I wonder to myself, why did she surrender to them?  I wonder whether or not she put up a fight?  I often wonder why didn’t she try to break free from the religious leaders.  In the end, we thank God that she didn’t because she would receive such a wonderful invitation.

Yet, in my wondering why she surrendered to those men, I often wonder why we surrender to man’s system?  Like her, many of us are afraid to break free and run away from this system.  

You see, we have been trained that man’s system is the only way to live and prosper.  We’ve been trained that if we do this and we do that, then we can prosper and live in serenity in man’s system, so we have been told.  Yet again, how many of us have the high and mighty let prosper?

So, many of us are afraid to step outside of the box, the system, to see what will happen.  Many of us are afraid of what might happen if we think differently, or do something differently.  Many of us are afraid of potential setbacks if we step outside of man’s system.  Again, I ask, have we become slaves of a system that doesn’t benefit us?

Surrendering to self-deprecation

To break free from this system, you must ask yourself this question:  Do you love living in this system more than you love yourself?  Ask yourself:  What has man’s system done for you?  Many of us have given and given to man’s system and don’t even receive a thank you in return.  Many of us toil away, and at the end of our days, we don’t even know what makes us happy.

Jesus has invited us to receive the light of life and live unburdened in our soul but many of us who are lowly reject His invitation.  Why is that?  

Many of us reject Jesus’ invitation because we are blocked by self-deprecation.  What I mean by this is that many of us underestimate our worth and our value because man’s system has trained us to think so little of ourselves.  Many of us go and work so hard and end up settling by receiving so little in return.  Many of us did all that the system said for us to do, and yet, we still are unappreciated with little that rewards our work.

So, for many of us, the offer of living a burden-free life by following Christ sounds too good to be true!  For many of us, it is too hard to believe that a system of mercy and grace exists because of what we are used to by living in man’s system.  Yet, I tell you today that serenity is real.  We must free our souls from a system that causes us to think so little of ourselves that we will block ourselves from living in true serenity.

How to Free Your Soul

Again, I repeat, serenity is real, and the path to serenity is by God’s truth. If you follow God’s way, then you will certainly find and live in serenity.

In 1 John 1:6,8, John shared a word to the high and mighty that I wish to share with those of a self-righteous heart today.  To sum up what John said in that scripture, John told the self-righteous to stop deceiving themselves and practice the truth.  

What John meant by this is that one must live by the word rather than by a profession.  You see, without the truth, one is truly lost in their soul with no help or guidance to find the way.  Again, without God’s truth, one is lost from the path of living in serenity and will never be able to do it.

To the lowly, those living in self-deprecation, I want you to consider again what Jesus did for the adulterer in John 8:10-11.  Did Jesus condemn her even though she was caught in the act of adultery?  He did not.  Jesus told her to go and sin no more.

Now, was Jesus asking her to be perfect from then on?  The real truth is that God knows we aren’t capable of living a life without sin.  Again, the Lord knows that we are more than able of transgessing Him.

So, when Jesus said to her to sin no more, He was encouraging her to strive to live a better way.  Here we are today and I believe Jesus shares those same words with all of us.  Today, you and I who choose to follow Him, live under His grace and mercy.  Because of His grace and mercy, Jesus uplifts us even when we fall into temptation!  

Without His mercy and grace, sin would have rule over our hearts.  As we saw with the religious leaders, all sin wants to do with us is stone us to death!  There can be no serenity in such a system.  So, I encourage you to accept Jesus’ invitation to receive the light of life.

Jesus said that those who choose to abide in His word, God’s truth, will know the truth and the truth will make them free!  Receiving the light of life will set you free from a system that is flawed and corrupt.  Receiving the light of life will set you free from a system that is against you!  Receiving the light of life will set you free from a system that does nothing but limit you!

When you choose God’s way, you find freedom in a system that understands you and will show you mercy and grace.  In God’s way you will have freedom in a system that accepts and uplifts you.  This means that you will have the freedom to grown and reacher newer heights in who you are!  This means that you will have the freedom to reach newer heights in your happiness and in your joy!

When you choose to go down the path by God’s truth, you will break free the chains of man’s system and flourish!  By God’s truth, all of us who choose it, will live unburdened and in serenity.