Well, this is a first for me.
I'm taking out my cell phone, and any of you who know me know my cell phone is, should I
! say this?
It's possessed.
And I say this because it sometimes rings at the most inopportune times, and I'm trusting
that it won't do that.
I have misplaced my watch, and I'm not relying on any of you to tell me what time it is.
So, I'm going to rely on my cell phone to give me hints of, you know, how much beyond
10 after 12 I go.
You think I'm joking.
So, for me to say that I need your prayer would be something you've not heard before, and
it's desperately true.
Any and every time a man stands to preach the Word of God, it is right.
It is biblical in that it fits the frame and instruction of Scripture that people should
pray, both that their hearts are receptive to the Word of God, because I'm certain there
are going to be things that are said today, as is in every case where the Word is taught,
that there are things that affect your heart and life, and God intends for you to respond
to them.
And so there is a part of your responsibility of praying that the Word of God would have free
course.
And then it's appropriate also to pray for me that what I say is governed and controlled
by the Spirit, is faithful to the text, and lifts up the Lord Jesus Christ.
That's a burden that you have.
Do you understand that?
You have an obligation, a responsibility, and I'll say this carefully.
Average people praying for average pastors enable exceptional preaching.
Don't ever forget that.
So, let's turn in our Bibles to John chapter 7, verse 53.
Actually, I'm going to begin in my text, and this is not an original manuscript.
They're gone.
Nobody knows where they are.
But I'm going to be reading in the English Standard Version, and some of you may also have a little parenthetical comment.
I'm going to read that this morning, and it has bearing on the lesson.
The earliest manuscripts do not include 753 through 811.
They went each to his own house, but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.
Early in the morning, he came again to the temple, and all the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them.
The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery and placed her in the midst.
They said to him, Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery.
Now, in the law of Moses, in the law, Moses commanded us to stone such woman.
What do you say?
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.
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.
And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground.
And 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.
Jesus stood up and said to her, Woman, where are they?
Has no one condemned you?
She said, No one, Lord.
And Jesus said, Neither do I condemn you.
Go, and from now on, sin no more.
Let's pray.
Our Father, this morning as we take this passage of Scripture in hand,
we're mindful of the clear instruction and the explanation in the text,
not just here, but what you tell us is that we are dependent upon you working in us
for us to comprehend and apply the sweetness and beauty of this passage.
And we confess that it's fairly easy for us this morning as we are gathered together
to allow our minds to kind of slip over into autopilot
and just kind of bear with the time that lies between now and our departure.
Some of us perhaps speculating upon what we'll do after the service is over.
Others of us actually scrolling through and thinking of things that we would be tempted
to consider important, such as things we may want to buy or what we're trying to do on the holidays
and all different kinds of little thoughts that have nothing to do with eternity.
And so we're mindful this morning that we need your help
to bring every thought into captivity to the glory of Christ.
We need your help to hear the Word of God and apply it directly to our own lives.
We need your help to grow to be more like the Lord Jesus Christ,
that He who abides supreme would be glorified in our frail lives.
And we ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.
Amen.
Well, this morning I can't think of another time where I read you a little parenthetical statement
at the very opening that really addressed the issue of a textual variant,
and there's a reason for that.
My general pattern of beginning a sermon is to read the passage,
give you a little comment, an overview, and then pray, and then off we go to the work.
Today, my complete confidence in the inerrancy and the preservation of Scripture
prompts me to spend a little extra time this morning presenting a defense
for my complete confidence in the authority and the reliability of the Word of God.
And I have no hesitation in saying to you that what 2 Timothy 3, verse 16 says is entirely true.
All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and it's reliable, it's profitable,
that the man of God may be completely furnished for every good work.
And this passage is no exception.
I think many of you, and I'm just curious, raise your hand,
if you have a Bible that notes the fact that this is one of those passages that is a little atypical.
How many? Wave that so I see.
Okay?
Most of you have some indication that this passage is one that doesn't appear in the earliest manuscripts.
And that little announcement actually tells us something important.
For one, it tells you that the translators of Scripture are painfully honest in mentioning what this text is
and how it relates to the rest of the Scriptures,
and they let you know the information that has governed most of the gathering
and the including in the canon of the Scriptures.
I appreciate their honesty, and I respect it a great deal.
And for another, the note alerts you to one of two passages in the New Testament
that are not as well documented in ancient Greek texts.
The other one, does anybody know without looking?
Does anybody know what the other one is?
You know what it is?
It is in what gospel?
Stephen?
Pardon?
No, the woman at the well is there.
I'm thinking about Mark chapter 16, the last couple verses.
And so, any of you want to speed over there and kind of take a look?
There's another indication of an extended passage that doesn't have documentation in the earliest texts.
Now, that being said, I could take time here to give you a lengthy overview of the way in which our Bible was put together
and the rules that governed the verses and parts that have been included that you hold in your hand.
And the fact of the matter is, is that our Bible that we actually have did not come, has not come to us from an original manuscript.
Now, what do I mean by original?
Case in point.
Paul sat down and wrote a passage, Scripture, Ephesians or whatever it is, he used in Emanuensis in many cases,
but that was sent directly to the…
No copy of Paul's…
I shouldn't say no copy.
No original of Paul's letter exists.
But there are countless, countless texts that are copies of the original,
and those recopied portions are the things from which the Scriptures have been gathered that you and I hold in hand.
And translators, eventually, when they got together to translate the Bible,
whether it was from Greek or from Hebrew into English or whatever language that they relied upon,
what they did was they relied upon copies and they paid very careful attention to each word.
Let's take, for example, they had 10 copies of Isaiah chapter 50.
Use that as an illustration.
One of the things they wanted to check was to see that each word was the same in the 10 copies,
so that there was a reliable accuracy across the…
How many of you played telephone by any chance?
You ever played telephone?
I remember when I was…
Steve, you're the guilty party on telephone.
In the Steve Rice small group, we played telephone,
and by the time it got…
We were only six or seven people around the room,
and by the time it got to the end of the…
It's just a mess.
Well, relying upon the complete accuracy of the translations,
one of the things that the people who put together the Scriptures have done
is they've very carefully matched up the different copies to see,
are these words exactly the same in each one of the various copies?
And that's one of the things they rely upon to guarantee the accuracy of the text.
And where there are wording variations,
and there are a couple of them, there are several,
one of the things that the translators have always done is, for one,
they give preference to the wording that comes from an earlier copy.
If the copy was actually made in, let's say, 100 years after the apostle wrote it,
it tends to be viewed as more reliable than a copy that was made 300 years later,
by virtue of that common expression or expectation that the further down the food chain you go
in playing telephone, probably the further you get from the real pieces.
And so, preference is generally given to those that are earlier copies.
Second thing that is given preference is when the wording appears to be the same
in most copies.
It only is a variant in maybe one of 100 copies.
Another preference is given in matching what the verse says
against all of the rest of the record of Scripture.
And that's one of the things that I'm going to rely on this morning
as we work our way through to understand this passage.
We're going to discover that what this passage teaches us about Jesus
is absolutely consistent with the rest of the record of Scripture.
I want to tell you something.
One of the real tests of the authenticity of a translation
is the doctrinal clarity with which it puts things out in front of you.
Whether you're reading the Scriptures in English or Hindi or Spanish or Latin,
whatever it is, if it is the Scripture,
it's going to present the same doctrine across the spectrum.
Does that make sense?
In fact, people come to me, they kind of get wigged out,
and, Pastor, you're not using the King James Version,
and it is the one version that has God's absolute reliable stamp on,
and my rebuttal is this.
Okay, so tell me, which doctrine does ESV get wrong?
No, it doesn't.
And so when people are weighing,
well, this John 8 passage,
it doesn't appear in some of the manuscripts,
but is it consistent with the record of Scripture
and the picture we have of the Lord Jesus Christ?
So since our passage doesn't appear in the earliest manuscripts,
allow me to pose several questions
that I gathered this week in reading one of the comments
that John MacArthur made.
He said this,
Do these verses teach truth that violates any other passage of Scripture?
And the answer is no.
No.
Second,
do they, in fact, corroborate other passages in Scripture
and substantiate it?
The answer is yes.
And keep your finger there in John
and turn back to John 3, verse 17.
We have a very interesting picture here.
It's not going to appear on the screen.
Sometimes I'll say something and people look,
and is that going to come up?
This time it's,
how many of you notice that I sit down here and make notes?
I make notes in the morning,
Sunday morning as I'm praying and preparing.
What I have in hard copy and what happens at the pulpit
always gets kind of amended a little bit.
John 3, 17.
Listen to it.
It says this,
For God did not send His Son into the world
to condemn the world,
but in order that the world might be saved through Him.
That passage gives us a picture of Jesus
behaving in John 8
in complete consistency
to what we read in John 3, verse 17.
So the question, the second question was,
does what happens in this passage
corroborate other Scripture and substantiate?
And we see that to be true.
And the third question is this,
is there definite and conclusive evidence
that this passage should be left out?
And the answer is no.
So with that said,
we want to dig into this passage with complete confidence,
believing that it tells us the truth about the Lord Jesus
and teaches us lessons that you and I,
sitting here this morning,
need to learn.
Let's look first of all, if you will,
going back to John 8,
that this passage gives us a very interesting little picture
of our Lord Jesus,
the flesh,
the part,
the word incarnate part.
Okay?
And so you look here in John 8,
and it says there in verse 53 of 7,
actually it says,
they went each to his own house,
but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.
Let me have you turn back to a passage that I do mark for you,
and I want you to look at Isaiah chapter 42,
Isaiah chapter 42,
verse 1 through 4.
Behold my servant,
whom I uphold,
my chosen,
in whom my soul delights,
I have put my spirit upon him.
He will bring forth justice to the nations.
He will not cry aloud,
or lift up his voice,
or make it heard in the street.
A bruised reed he will not break,
and a faintly burning wick he will not quench.
He will faithfully bring forth justice.
He will not grow faint,
or be discouraged,
till he has established justice in the earth,
and the coastlands wait for his law.
What we find in this passage,
going back to Isaiah,
is a picture of the Lord Jesus
that was contrary to the popular expectation
of what the Messiah would be like.
You know,
they expected Jesus,
when he came into Jerusalem,
if he was doing it according to their plan,
he would have been riding on a white charger,
he would have been strong,
and mighty,
and powerful,
and he would have absolutely stomped out
those nasty Romans,
and dealt with all the sin in the world.
You know,
bang!
By the way,
when he comes back the second time,
guess what's going to happen?
It will happen,
right?
When Jesus comes back
to bring his kingdom
and reign,
it is going to be glorious,
and there will be no relaxed kind of,
he is going to come with authority and power.
But this time,
he came,
how?
On a donkey.
Slow,
easy,
gentle.
And as we open up this passage,
we find that
after that grand and glorious announcement
in John chapter 7,
I am the one that you can rely on
to give you salvation,
and also to make you a satisfier of other people,
everybody's heard the message
and they go off to go to bed.
Maybe sit around the small little living room
that they had in those ancient homes,
and it was a pretty impressive day
that we had today,
and Jesus was in top form.
Did you notice how he made that wonderful announcement
and blah, blah, blah,
and eventually,
well, good night,
see you tomorrow,
I love you,
blah, blah,
and off they went to sleep.
What did we learn about Jesus?
Look there at Romans 8,
at John chapter 8, verse 1,
but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.
The throng went home.
What did Jesus do?
It says that he went out to the Mount of Olives.
We know from Luke
that Jesus often went to the Mount of Olives.
It was his custom,
is what Luke tells us.
And we know that it was a place of prayer,
and I think it is fair for us to anticipate that,
or to at least speculate,
that one of the things that Jesus did
when he retired to that quiet place
is he spent time in prayer.
But I want you to understand also
that when Jesus went to the Mount of Olives,
he also went there to rest
because he was very human.
And so just imagine that
instead of demanding to be housed
in a spectacular fashion
because he was, after all,
the Messiah and the Lord of hosts,
he goes up,
and as would happen in that ancient culture,
he took the heavy coat that he had,
and he laid down on the ground
and he rested there alone.
That's a profoundly humbling picture
of our Savior, isn't it?
Remember what he said to his disciples
when they said,
well, I'm going to follow you.
He says, let me tell you,
foxes have holes,
birds have nests,
and the Son of Man has what?
Nowhere to lay his head.
Profoundly humble in his ministry.
The next morning as Jesus got up,
it tells us that he came into the temple.
Look at verse 2.
Early in the morning,
he came again to the temple.
All the people came to him.
So I want you to imagine this scene as well.
Here is Jesus.
He's rested for the night.
He gets up early,
and he goes to the temple.
What does he go to the temple to do?
He goes to the temple to do that
which was in his heart
and was for the well-being of God's people.
He said he came there to teach the word.
By the way,
I want you to understand
that it must have been very unnerving
for the scribes and Pharisees
to see Jesus arriving at the temple again
because what they knew
is that people flocked to be around him
to hear his teaching.
Remember in John chapter 7
that when the police officers
came back to the Sanhedrin
and said,
Did you bring him?
No.
Nobody ever spoke like he did.
And here's Jesus in humility
coming back into the temple
just quietly,
unassuming spirit,
and he sits down
and he begins to teach.
Isn't that a little different
than a lot of what we see today
in those who are the heavy lifters
in public,
even Christian venues?
So and so will be out on stage
in five minutes.
And here's Jesus kind of wanders in
and sits down at the temple
and just begins to teach.
You see,
you look there at John chapter 8 verse 2
and what you see is Jesus doing
what he loved to do.
He was always invested in gospel ministry.
Everything was tied back
to his ministry,
to the hearts of people.
That was his primary interest.
And I've got to say something
to you this morning.
At the heart of what we are gathered together
this morning to do,
listen to me,
is not kind of endure
sitting here temporarily
thinking that you're going to get points
for showing up.
We are here this morning
to hear and learn
about the character of our Savior
so that our hearts could grow
in our affection for him
and that we,
as a result in growing
in our affection for him,
may be growing to be more like him.
Does that make sense?
Everybody smile.
Look at me for just a second.
Please, please,
look up, look up.
The teaching of the word of God
aims at helping you grow
to be more like Jesus.
Isn't that right?
What does real growth look like?
Let me make this point.
You should be different spiritually
tomorrow than you were today.
Now, there's some of you
that actually,
if you were to put your finger on it,
you're really just as grumpy
and as unhappy today
as you were five years ago.
That's not the problem
of the word of God.
No reason for that.
Jesus came and he taught the word
and in his teaching,
his intent was to see
people's hearts touched
by the hope
and the sweetness
of the gospel.
So in this stage
of Christ's affection for people,
in come the scribes and Pharisees.
You can keep them,
see,
they're dressed well.
How many of you remember
how the scribes and Pharisees dressed?
You know what I mean?
You can kind of pick their rank
by their dress.
Stomping in there.
Here they come.
Look at the scene there
in verse 3.
The scribes and the Pharisees
brought a woman
who had been caught
in a dolpring.
Ah,
this next little piece
is going to help us
see Jesus resisting.
Here he was,
teaching,
unpretentious,
unassuming,
simple in his affection,
and in come these arrogant
self-confidence,
full of them.
How many of you don't like
people who are overly
impressed with themselves?
There's something in us
that resists arrogance.
I mean,
would you agree?
We struggle with it every day.
We look at it in the mirror,
but when we really see it
front and center,
it's like,
I can't take it,
right?
And so here come
the scribes and Pharisees.
Example A
of how not to be.
And they walk right there
in front of Jesus.
And,
by the way,
I thought about this.
How many of you think
they were leading her
gently by the hand?
One Pharisee on one side
and another Pharisee
on the other side.
Why don't you come with us?
We're going to take you
to Jesus now.
I don't think that's
what happened.
In fact,
kind of,
now there's no reason
for actually saying
anything definitively here,
but I can't imagine
that they probably
weren't even holding
on to her.
You know,
I mean,
who,
who of a Pharisee
would hold the hand
of a known adulterer?
By the way,
so that there's
some textual support
for my cautionary thought here,
you'll remember
over in Luke chapter 7,
I think that's where it is,
739.
Remember,
the Pharisee invites
Jesus to dinner,
and in comes a woman,
and what?
She puts her hands
on the teacher.
And what does,
what does that Pharisee
think to himself?
How many remember?
if he,
if he were a prophet,
he would know
what kind of girl
this is,
right?
Don't be touching me,
you low life.
I don't know for sure,
but they probably
had her roped up
and dragged in there
because,
you know,
they weren't putting
hands on her,
but then they bring her
in front of Jesus,
and they dump her there
in front of Jesus,
and here's what
they have to say.
Teacher,
this woman
has been caught
in the act
of adultery.
Now,
in the law,
Moses commanded us
to stone such a woman,
so,
what do you say?
I can just imagine
the committee meeting
they had.
I'm truthfully,
you know.
I can just imagine
the committee meeting
they had planning
this particular
little trap.
So,
what can we do
with Jesus?
Well,
we've obviously
got to catch him
some kind of
difficult predicament
that is going
to compromise
the respect he has
in our culture,
and so,
well,
how can we do that?
Oh,
well,
why don't we?
And we do know,
verse 6,
they said this
to test him.
Now,
by the way,
test is not,
how many of you
have taken tests
in which you really
know that the teacher
is interested
in you passing?
I suspicioned
that that was
never the case
in my case,
but the truth
of the matter
is that sometimes
I got softballs
and still missed them.
But,
you know,
they were not
interested in Jesus
passing this test.
I know that went
right over top
of some of you.
It never went
over top of me.
But,
here we go.
They were trying
to trap Jesus.
And we know
that from the passage.
There are a couple
things that are
really giveaways
on this.
For one,
we do know
that they did not
bring the man.
Now,
I'm not going to go
into the biological
issues of this,
but I got to tell you
that adultery
is a two-party sport
or a two-party sin.
Let me rephrase that.
We delete that
sport word there,
okay?
It's a two-party sin.
It's something
that you can't do
by yourself
by definition.
Now,
for another,
these scribes
and Pharisees
knew that stoning
for adultery
had not generally
been practiced
in Israel
for over a thousand
years.
Now,
I can't say that
definitively,
but scholars
indicate that
adultery
was a fairly
common problem
in Israel.
Israel.
And if you were
to read back
through the kings
and the prophets,
et cetera,
you will know
that the record
indicates that
Israel was
just about as
wicked as
other groups.
there was another
little piece
that we have
to recognize.
The laws
of Rome,
which at this
time were
actually governing
Israel,
particularly in
relationship to
capital crime,
did not
prescribe
execution
for adultery.
adultery.
And so here
they were,
they were
stepping into
the setting
and they were
saying,
oh,
by the way,
Jesus,
in the law
of Moses,
it says that
those who
commit adultery
should be
stoned.
Oh,
what do you
have to say?
They knew that
if Jesus said,
well,
stoned a girl,
that he would
have been charged
with being the
perpetrator of
the crime.
And if he'd
said,
not in your
life,
they would
have said,
you don't
buy Moses?
The dilemma
is interesting
because here,
obey Moses
or do what
Jewish culture
had been good
doing for a
thousand years
or overstep
Rome and
go ahead.
It's interesting
how Jesus
responded,
right?
In the face
of these
pompous,
self-righteous,
inflated egos,
you can kind
of hear them
snorting,
go ahead.
tell us
what you
think.
They're full
of themselves.
What does
Jesus do?
Did you get
it?
The most
disrespectful
thing,
he doesn't
pay attention.
In fact,
he gets down
and writes
on the ground.
I mean,
do you
understand that
writing in the
dust and not
even looking
at the accuser
is a supremely
offensive thing?
thing.
It's like,
I don't even
have the time
of day to
pay attention
to your
super silly
idea.
Now,
here's a little
cautionary note.
We don't know
what Jesus
wrote in the dirt.
Do you follow
that?
I think it
was Cecil B.
DeMills and
someone can text
me later and
let me know.
I do have my
phone.
But,
stop.
Okay.
I got a text
here that says,
it's currently
25.
You go,
pastor.
Okay,
got it.
That's good.
All right.
I'm ready.
Go.
Okay.
Stop.
Here's the
deal.
You listening?
We don't know
what Jesus
wrote in the
dirt.
All God's
people said,
amen.
Let that be
an instruction
to you.
If it isn't
clear,
don't go
there.
And,
determine not
to add to
scripture.
I don't know
if it was Cecil
B.
DeMills or
whoever it is,
but I remember
seeing the movie
and the guy,
the director,
decided that it
would help me
understand who
Jesus was or
at least what
was going on.
Remember,
if he kind of
wrote in the
dirt and he
put the sins
that they were
committing and
they were
convicted by that.
I'm not convinced
at all that's
what happened.
In fact,
I'm pretty
certain that
didn't happen.
And I'll argue
the case in just
a moment.
But my
caution to you
is this,
is that where
scripture isn't
clear,
be careful,
be cautious,
be disciplined
even in what
you imagine.
So,
now,
notice what he
did.
He wrote in
the dirt,
and then,
as they
continued,
we find him
exposing sin.
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.
The English
translation,
which says
let,
kind of
misses the
thrust of
this passage,
because what
Jesus is actually
saying is,
all right,
why don't we
allow,
that's kind of
the idea of
let,
is why don't
we allow
the one
who is without
sin to
throw the
first stone.
Instead of
falling into
the trap
that these
scribes and
Pharisees had
so carefully
put together,
we find that
he turns the
tables on
these men
two ways.
One,
he challenges
them to
actually follow
the law of
Moses and
have the
direct witnesses
!
That's what
he said.
He was
saying,
hey,
listen,
the law
demands that
the witnesses
to the
crime be
directly
involved in
the execution.
And so
here,
these
Pharisees and
scribes had
brought this
woman caught
in the act,
and they're
standing there
saying,
well,
yeah,
should we
stone her?
And Jesus
said,
hey,
why don't
we allow
the person
who's without
sin to
throw the
first stone?
You do
it.
And in
the course
of the
argument,
what Moses'
law clearly
said is
that it's
not just
the woman
who is
guilty of
adultery
and deserves
the penalty.
So the
obvious question
to all those
who are sitting
around,
where's the
man?
Like I
said,
adultery
is not a
solo sin.
Well,
they had
to pass
on that
one.
But there's
another thing
that he
challenged
them to
do,
and that
was to
violate
Roman
law and
put
themselves
at risk.
I've got
to tell
you,
Rome was
not very
passive.
They were,
they were,
listen to me
very carefully
so you
understand this.
We live
in a day
where politicians
are all good
about talking
about things
and not doing
much that really
is of substance.
Do you follow
that?
I mean,
hey,
why don't we
have another
conference about
what to do
about terrorism,
right?
Let's talk
about it.
Rome was
really not
good about
talking more
than single
sentence
statements.
They would
come up to
a city and
say,
hey guys,
would you
like us to
take over
your government
and allow
you to be
subjects of
Rome?
Question.
Answer was
yes,
no.
If the answer
was no,
guess what
happened
to the
city?
It was,
the polite
word was
invested.
They built
a moat
around it
and they
kind of
just starved
it into
submission
and when
they were
absolutely
close to
absolute
disaster,
Rome would
go in there
and slaughter
them.
And those
that they
didn't
slaughter
would be
turned
into slaves.
And the
rumor would
get out
that it
wasn't good
to mess
with Rome.
And so
these Jewish
leaders knew
that anybody
who picked
up the first
stone and
threw it at
this woman
would be
on Rome's
hit list.
I'll pass.
So how did
this thing
conclude?
You look
there and
it says
this,
he once
more bent
down and
wrote in
the dust.
Was that
a zinger
or not?
Hey,
I'm done.
Go for it.
And so
here's what
happens.
Nine,
and when
they heard
it,
they went
away one
by one
beginning
with the
older ones.
Joe Halsey
can perfectly
appreciate
this verse.
Joe has
been one
of our
younger
deacons.
And one
of the
things that
goes with
the younger
deacon is
that he
gets asked
first many
times.
Isn't
that right,
Joe?
How many
of you know
that the
Sanhedrin,
when they
made decisions,
they always
started with
the youngest.
Now,
what was
the logic
of that?
Does anybody
have an
idea?
When the
gray heads
weighed in
first,
it kind
of influenced
what?
The younger
guys.
And so
they would
work up
the ladder
according to
age.
In this
case,
who got
the memo
first that
they probably
ought not
be throwing
stones?
It was
the old
guys.
This is
not a
winning
proposition.
And they
also
probably,
and this is
speculation,
but they
probably
figured out
if they
had relied
upon normal
Sanhedrin
protocol and
let the
rookies go
first who
were full
of vinegar
at that
moment,
they'd been
picking up
stones and
the whole
mess would
have gone
through,
right?
So the
old guys
say,
I got
that one.
Bye.
I'm gone.
I'm done.
And out
they walked.
So,
I want to
close with
this.
I want you
to recognize
Jesus in
something about
second chances.
How did
Jesus deal
with this
woman?
For one,
he didn't
minimize her
sin.
Nor does
he overlook
our sin.
How do we
know that to
be true?
There in
verse 11,
after Jesus
says,
hey,
where are
they?
Has
no one
condemned
you?
She says,
no one,
Lord.
He says,
neither do I
condemn you.
Go,
and from
now on,
what?
Don't be a
repeat offender.
Don't be a
repeat offender.
And I
can't help
but think of
that passage
that I
recited earlier
in John
chapter 3,
verse 17,
where it
says,
the Son
of Man
did not
come to
condemn,
but that
through him
the world
might be
saved.
Jesus
is in
the
business,
listen to
me carefully,
of offering
you an
opportunity
to repent
for your
sins.
But
offering
you that
opportunity
to repent
is not
the same
as
overlooking
your
sin.
Secondly,
I want
you to
understand
that Jesus
extended
mercy to
this woman,
and he
still extends
mercy.
He's in
the business
of giving
you an
opportunity.
I love
what it
says in
Romans
chapter 2,
verse 4,
and I'm
just going
to recite
the passage
just for a
moment.
Here is
the apostle
talking about
God's
patience and
gentleness,
and there's
some of
you sitting
here this
morning.
The truth
of the
matter is
that you
are continuing
to draw
breath even
though you
openly resist
the sweetness
of the gospel.
And do you
know why
you're still
drawing breath?
I'll tell
you.
Not because
I know,
but because
the Bible
says he
is giving
you an
opportunity
to repent.
And by
the way,
the longer
and more
patient he
is in
that
opportunity,
the more
firm will
be your
eventual
dealings.
And so
let me say
this clearly.
Christ's
mercy,
and that's
what we see
here,
calls the
sinner to
repent
into a
new life.
God's
love.
I don't
know what
the heart
is that
you have.
I don't
know if
you're sitting
here this
morning and
you know
Christ as
your Savior,
or it may
be that
you're a
person who
grew up
with all
the vocabulary.
Do you
know what I
mean by
the vocabulary?
You got it
down pat.
But the
truth of the
matter is,
if you were
to die today
and God
were to say,
why should I
let you into
heaven?
You'd say,
well,
I've been a
pretty good
person.
Can I tell
you something?
It would
have been
squandering for
the life of
Christ to
die on the
cross if
you and I
could get
there by
being pretty
good.
What does
the Bible
say?
It says that
there is none
righteous,
no, not one.
There is none
that seeketh
after God.
And God
seeing the
moral bankruptcy
and the
darkness of
our heart
and the ease
with which we
deceive ourselves
sent Christ
into the world
to convict us
of our sin.
and to
bring us to
the point
like the
woman at
the well,
like Zacchaeus,
like the
thief on the
cross,
like the
woman taken
in adultery,
we stand
exposed for
the sinners
that we
really are.
And in
the face
of that
reality,
we cry
out and
say,
I
recognize
my sin
and my
offense
against
a holy
God.
And I
believe
Jesus
died in
my place
and satisfied
my debt
and I
believe in
what he
did for
me.
And I
claim his
promise and
his salvation
and his
power to
live a
different life.
Let's close
in prayer.
Father God,
this morning
as we lift
up the
sweetness
of our
Savior who
came into
the world
to save
sinners,
we are
here this
morning in
one of two
conditions.
There are
some here
this morning
that may
have had
all the
vocabulary,
pounded home
and grown up
in that just
the perfect
environment and
the truth of
matter is
they've never
come to
trust Christ,
break through
the deception
of the enemy
and help them
see their
desperate need
and call upon
the name of
the Lord in
whom alone
is salvation.
There are
others of us
here that know
Christ,
whose hearts
have found
that freedom
and that
forgiveness
and whose
hearts have
been lifted
out of the
miry pit
for the
purpose of
the glory
of the
Lord Jesus
Christ who
is the
Savior of
the world.
Given
His mercy,
given His
kindness,
given the
abundance of
His love,
there is
nothing that
we should
live for
apart from
Him.
We ask
that You
would work
in us to
make that
true.
And where
there is a
need for
repentance,
and for
a change
of direction
and affection,
we ask that
You would do
that to
Your glory.
And we
ask this in
Jesus' name.
Amen.
Let's stand
together as
we close.