We're going to enjoy lunch together
after the services. Everybody's invited and I'm looking
forward to it. I pray the Lord will bless our
time fellowship together. I have entitled the message for
this morning. He that is without sin among
you. He that is without sin among
you. Verse seven. So when they continued asking
him, John chapter eight, verse seven. So when they continued
asking him, he lifted up himself. He had been not quite on his
knees, crouched down, and he now stands up. And he said unto them, he that
is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at
her. I believe that other than Judge
Knott, this may be one of the most universally known statements
of the Lord by believers and unbelievers alike. I got no stones to throw. I'm
sure that that has come across many people's lips. I've got
no stones to throw. The response of our Lord's statement
is seen in verse eight. And again, he stooped down and
wrote on the ground. His second stoop. And they, which heard being convicted by their own
conscience, went out one by one, beginning
at the eldest, even into the last. And Jesus was left alone
and the woman standing in the midst. Now, I want you to picture yourself
as a witness to what took place. Think of yourself as watching.
when this takes place. Verse two, early in the morning,
he came again into the temple and all the people came unto
him and he sat down and taught them and the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken
in adultery, caught in the very act. There was no doubt whatsoever
with regard to the guilt of this woman in this act, taken in adultery. And when they'd set her in the
midst, now try to picture this woman. No doubt she was guilty. She'd committed the sin of adultery
and they took her in the very act. Evidently they were watching.
Was this a set up? Was somebody watching? She was
taken in the very act and they physically apprehended her and
brought her to the Lord. Can you imagine how angry she
must've been? How angry would you have been
if someone had done this to you? Can you imagine how humiliated
she was? How embarrassed she was? How resentful she was? I can certainly understand all
those feelings, can't you? When these religious men, these
supposedly moral men, these hypocrites caught her in the act, and bring
her before the Lord. And when they'd set her in the
midst, verse four, they said, and her master, this woman was
taken in adultery in the very act. There's no doubt. with regard to the guilt of this
woman. She committed this sin. There is no getting around this. Now some 1,450 years before this,
that's a long time, God gave to Moses on Mount Sinai what
is known as the Ten Commandments. Thou shalt put no God before
me. There's the commandment against
idolatry. You're not to make any likeness of me at all. Any
likeness we make to God only brings him down to our level.
It's evil. He said, don't take my name in
vain. His name is so holy, so glorious that to even speak his
name without the proper reverence is great sin against God. There's the commandment with
regard to the Sabbath, the fourth commandment. Don't work. I think
that's glorious that even in the law, we have this commandment
with regard to rest. No works. Now men make a work
out of not working. I realize that, but no works. And then the fifth commandment
regarding honoring your father and your mother. honoring authority. You know, I think it's interesting,
Paul says, this is the first commandment with promise that
it might be well with thee. If you honor authority, it's
going to be well with you. If you teach your kids to respect
authority, they're going to have a better life. That's your responsibility
as parents. You say, I can't make them mind
me. Yeah, you can. Yeah, you can. That's your responsibility before
God. Then the sixth commandment, thou shalt not kill. Murder takes
someone's life. The seventh commandment, thou
shalt not commit adultery. The commandment against the act of marriage outside of
marriage. Thou shalt not commit adultery. It was sin then, it's sin now. It was sin when this woman was
taken in adultery. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
In the eighth commandment, thou shalt not steal. You're not to
take what doesn't belong to you. The ninth commandment, thou shalt
not bear false witness. Thou shalt not lie. In the 10th
commandment, thou shalt not covet what belongs to your neighbor. The 10 commandments. Were these
things sinned before the giving of the law? There was a time
in Abraham's day when he didn't have the 10 commandments written
down so he could know what they were. But listen to the word
of God to Abimelech over 400 years before the law, he said,
and appeared to Abimelech and said, behold, thou art but a
dead man for the woman, which thou hast is another man's wife. She's Abraham's wife. So yes,
this was sin before the giving of the law. People who've never
heard the Ten Commandments have the law written in their heart
according to Romans 2.16. Everybody knows it's wrong to
steal, to lie, to murder, to commit adultery, to covet. to fail to honor your parents.
This is God's law written in the heart. I don't have to convince
anybody of this. Deep down, they know that these
things are sin. Now, if there's no God, who's
to say what is to sin? But if God is, sin is. Before the fall, I thought it
was interesting that we read this when Claire read that passage
of scripture. Before the fall, it was said that they were naked
and not ashamed. Now I want you to think of the
impact of that. They didn't have an evil nature. And being naked
was not an issue. No unclean thought came out of
that. No sinful thought, no passionate thought. It wasn't even an issue
because they did not have a fallen nature. But when they ate the
fruit, what's the first thing said about them? They knew they
were naked and it is now an issue. They now have a sinful nature,
a fallen nature, and it is now an issue. This woman was taken in the very
act of committing adultery. Adultery is a horrible evil. To be unfaithful to your spouse,
It's sin against God and how many lives have been ruined through
people's adulterous relationships. The kids are affected. It's a
horrible, horrible evil. And there are few people who
have not been affected by this. Adultery. I will not say perhaps
you've committed this sin. I will say you and I have committed
this sin. Nobody is not guilty. Let me show you
that from the scripture. Turn to Matthew chapter five. Verse 27, you have heard that it was said
by them of old time, thou shalt not commit adultery. But I say
unto you that whosoever looketh on a woman
to lust after her, What's the next say? Hath. Not it's as if he has. Hath. Hath. Committed adultery with
her already in his heart. You see, that's where sin really
takes place. In the heart. So. Everybody in this room is guilty of being an adulterer. This woman was taken in the act. Now, back to this scene. Verse four, they said in him,
master. They don't call him Lord, do
they? Teacher. teacher. This woman was taken in adultery
in the very act. Now Moses in the law commanded
us that such should be stoned. But what sayest thou? Now right off the bat, this woman
was taken in adultery There was somebody else involved. The man. Where's he? Why is he not brought
before the Lord at this time? Maybe he's the one who set it
up. I don't know, but I know this. The scripture says they
are both to be put to death. Not just the woman, but the man. Something is wrong. And then
they talk about what the law says. Moses said in the law that
such should be stoned. Now, wait a minute. That's not
what Moses said. They're using a half a scripture
to prove the point. They're using the word of God
to justify what they're saying. Moses said both are to be stoned. So they were abusing and misusing
the word of God. Moses said both are to be stoned. Adultery, I know you agree with
this. I know you agree with the fact
that you have committed adultery. You have. You have. You say,
no, I haven't. Well, Christ said you did. I
don't need to say anything else. And you know that Adultery is
a great evil. Society doesn't look at sexual
sin as a great evil now, but it is nonetheless. Adultery,
there can be so many reasons behind the act, but here's what
the law says. Both are to be stoned. But I think of her. in this crowd,
maybe she had a sheet cover, maybe they brought her in, I
don't know what happened, but how humiliated and angry she
must have been. Now Moses in the law commanded
us that such should be stoned, but what sayest thou? This they said, tempting him
they might have to accuse him. Now, they didn't care one way
or the other about this woman, but they wanted to put the Lord
in a bad light. They wanted to accuse him and
they thought in their brilliance, they'd figured out a way where
he can't get off the hook with this one. If he says, let her
go, we can say, where's your respect to the law of God? God's
law says to stone her and you're saying we don't need to do that.
Where's your respect to the law of God? And if he says stoner,
throw the rock at her, we could say, whatever happened to you
claiming to be the friend of sinners? It was all just talk. If you tell us to stone her,
you're being completely contradictory to what you say. You are the
friend of publicans and sinners. They thought these idiots. thought that they had entrapped
him who is omniscient, the Lord of glory. Jesus, look in verse six, or
verse five, but Jesus stooped down. While they were saying
this, and remember, everything is significant. There's nothing
that's insignificant in the scripture. Every word is God breathed of
great importance to teach us something. Jesus stooped down. I'd try to do it, but I probably
couldn't get back up. Um, but he stooped down and I
can see him with his finger riding on the ground during this time,
not answering them, but riding on the ground and the translators
say as though he heard them not. And evidently that's implied
in that language. They were speaking. He wasn't
listening. Don't you hear us? Nope. What
you're saying is not worth listening to. And he stooped down and wrote
in the ground with his own finger. Now there's two times in the
scripture that the finger of God is said to write. The first
time was the law, the Ten Commandments. The scripture actually says written
by the finger of God. I quoted those Ten Commandments,
God's eternal law written by the finger of God. Now we're not told what he wrote,
but I think I've got a pretty good idea. Thou shalt not commit
adultery. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Verse seven, so when they continued
asking him, he didn't answer. They kept asking
him, you can't plead the fifth on this. You need to tell us
what you got to say about this. What sayest thou? We know what
Moses said. What do you say we ought to do? So when they continued asking
him, lifted up himself. He stood up at this time from
that crouched position where he'd been riding in the dirt.
He stood up and he looked at them and he doesn't say stoner. He doesn't say do not stoner. He says he that is without sin. among you. And he's not using
this in the generic sense. He's talking about this particular
sin. He that's without sin among you. Throw the first stone. Anybody without this sin you
throw the first stone at her." And again, verse 8, he stooped
down and wrote on the ground. Does anybody know the second
time the finger of God wrote? You remember in Daniel chapter
five when Belshazzar was having a big drunken party and everybody
was having a good time and all of a sudden he comes up with
a brilliant idea. Let's take the vessels of the Lord and drink
our wine out of it. Now, all of a sudden a hand comes
to the wall telling this man that his days are numbered, his
kingdom is gone. He said, thou art weighed in
the balances and found wanting. Second time, he wrote in the
ground. I think the first time, thou
shalt not commit adultery. The second time, thou art weighed
in the balances and found wanting. Some have suggested that he was
writing names and dates. I know we don't know, but there's
great significance to the fact that the son of God was writing
these words on the ground. And since the finger of God is
only written twice, and this is the finger of God, I think
he's saying the same thing. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou art weighed in the balances
and found wanting. You're weighed in the balances
of God's absolute impartial justice and you've been found wanting. I couldn't help but think of
the scripture in Romans chapter 2 verse 1, it always cuts me
Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art, the
judgest another, for you the judgest doest the same things. That's what God says. Somebody
says, no, I don't. God says you do. Enough said. God says you do. And they which heard. being convicted by their own
conscience, went out one by one, verse nine, beginning at the
eldest, even into the last, and Jesus was left alone and the
woman standing in the midst. Now, what if you were a bystander
watching all this? Would you, like these men, feel
convicted? I know this, if I witnessed this
even as an unbeliever, I'd want to hear what else he has to say,
wouldn't you? If I experienced seeing the way he dealt with
this, I'd want to hear more from this
man, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now notice it says they being
convicted by their own conscience. Now understand this, there's
two kinds of convictions. Being convicted by your own conscience?
You know, everybody's got a conscience. Everybody's got that. We're born
with one. Now, it could be that through wickedness and sin, our
conscience has become seared and we can't tell the difference
between right and wrong, but we don't begin that way. Everybody's
got a conscience. There's a conviction of your
own conscience, and there's the conviction of the Holy Spirit. The conviction of your own conscience,
it'll cause you to go and try to right this wrong. Try to do
something to make up for this. Try to, let's fix this. The conviction of God the Holy
Spirit drives you to the Lord Jesus Christ, knowing he's all
you have. You have nothing else. You're
not trying to fix it because you know you can't. You're coming
to Christ. That's the conviction of the
Holy Spirit. And these men didn't have that
conviction. They went off and left the Lord
Jesus Christ. And there he stoops, still riding
on the ground as they leave one by one beginning at the eldest,
there he stoops, still riding on the ground as they leave. And then we read in verse nine,
and they which heard it being convicted by their own conscience
went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the
last, and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the
midst. The best place she could be,
and you and I could be, alone with Jesus. All she saw at this time was
Him. Oh, would to God that that would
describe me and you this morning. Alone with Jesus. Forget everybody else. Forget
everything else. Alone with Jesus. Verse 10, when Jesus had lifted
up himself. and saw none but the woman."
Now, what I want to call to your attention in this passage of
Scripture, in every detail, is of critical importance. He stooped twice, didn't he?
And he lifted up himself twice. Now, in the life of the Lord
Jesus Christ, there were two great stoops. bringing himself down. The first was when he humbled
himself and became a man. The creator of the universe humbled
himself to live in a womb for nine months. And he took upon himself all
the limitations of the flesh. God, the infinite God, the creator,
the brightness of God's glory, the express image of His person,
the one who upheld all things by the word of His power, became
a man. Great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. What a stoop that the God of
glory There's one mediator between
God and men, the man, Christ, Jesus. And as a man, he never
sinned. He never had an unclean thought. He never had a bad motive. He
obeyed God. I love to think of his first
30 years of life that we know so little about. In those 30
years, he worked out a perfect righteousness, obeying God's
law perfectly. He never had an adulterous thought. That's his first step, the stoop.
He became flesh. But what about his second stoop? When he was made sin. He became obedient to death,
even the death of the cross. Now what a stoop this was, and
we obviously cannot possibly understand it, but the scripture
says Christ was made sin. He bore my sins." Now He can
do this because of who He is. When He drank that cup, He drank
in the sins of all the elect. He bore our sins in His own body
on the tree. What a stoop! He bore the shame
and He never committed sin, I realize that, but He owned the guilt
and the shame. He was so humiliated before his
father, ashamed before his father as he bore the sins of his people
that became his sins. What a stoop. He stooped one time when he became
flesh, another time when he was made sin. But now he raises himself again. After this second stoop, he's
speaking to this woman on resurrection ground. Don't miss that. He's speaking
to this woman on resurrection ground when he raised himself
up once again. Now look what he says to her.
Verse 10, when Jesus had lifted up himself. and saw none but
the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? Hath no man condemned thee? Now, what does it mean that he's speaking
to her on resurrection ground? Romans chapter 4 verse 25 tells
us, he was delivered for our offenses and raised again for
our justification. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemns? It's
Christ that dies. Yea, rather that's risen again,
who's even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession
for us. All of our salvation is predicated
on his resurrection. You believe that? All, not most,
not 99.99%. All of our salvation. predicated, dependent completely
on this. He was raised from the dead because
God was satisfied with what he did. Completely satisfied. He said, I can ask for no more.
He raised him from the dead because Christ completely satisfied all
the demands of God's justice and God's law against sin. He's speaking to this dear woman
whom you and I ought to identify with, no question with regard
to our guilt. His question, woman, where are your accusers? Where
are they? Let them be brought to the stand.
Where are your accusers? What about the devil? It's Christ
that died. He can have no response to that.
What about the law? The law says I'm satisfied. It's
Christ that died. What about these accusers? Who
cares what they say anyway? It's Christ that died. I don't
care anything about these guys. They're hypocrites. It's Christ
that died. What about my own conscience? It's Christ that died. That's the only answer needed.
Yea rather that's risen. who's even at the right hand
of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Verse 11. Here's her answer. She said, no man, Lord. You notice these Pharisees called
him master. She knew who he was. That's everything in my experience
knowing who he is. Do you know he's the Lord? I'm
asking, do you know that Jesus Christ is the Lord? The Lord
of creation, the one who spake the world into existence. The
Lord of everything that's taken place. He's the Lord of providence.
Nothing happens without Him willing it. I don't care what it is.
He's the Lord. Most especially, He's the Lord
of salvation. If you're saved, it's because
He willed your salvation. And you know that. She knew He's
the Lord. She knew the same thing the thief
did. Remember the thief? Lord. Remember me when you come
into your kingdom. He knew who he was. She knew
he's the Lord. Has no man condemned thee? She
said, no man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, neither
do I condemn thee. Let me tell you why he said that.
Because there was nothing to condemn her for. That's what
justification is. There was nothing to condemn
her for. That sin was put away. He was
gone. He was wiped out. He's looking
at a justified sinner, one who has never sinned. That's why
he didn't condemn. Oh, the power of the gospel that
makes this so. Neither do I condemn thee. And I love his last words. He
says to this woman, go and sin no more. Now, some have suggested that
he's saying you don't live this lifestyle anymore. And I wouldn't
deny that in any way. That's not a lifestyle to be
lived. But he's saying go and sin no more. You see, the gospel
does not excuse sin any more than the law does. Go and sin
no more. You know, he would never say,
now since your sin's already put away, it's okay to sin. You
know, I mean, you're okay. Don't let it bother you. No,
go and sin no more. Let me close with first John
chapter two, if you'll turn there. Verse one, my little children, these things
write I unto you that you sin not. And. If that same word, if is also
translated, when and when any man sin. We have an advocate with the
father, Jesus Christ, the righteous, and he is the propitiation for
our sins and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the
whole world. And when the Lord says in verse
12, after this, I'm the light of the world. He's saying I'm
the light of how this is. So let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for God,
blessed son. How we thank you for his stoop
to be a man and his stoop to be made sin. and his resurrection
that can cause him to say to us, where are your accusers?
They're all put away. There are none. I do not condemn
thee. Lord, we thank you so much for
your gospel. I ask in Christ's name that you
would make this real to each person here, according to your
will. Lord, as we have this time together
to eat and fellowship, we're so thankful for these relationships
you've given us, your people. We ask that you would give us
the grace to love one another the way you have loved us and
bless our time of fellowship together. We thank you for this.
this time of feasting on your word and we pray that you'd bless
us during this time of eating together we give thanks for this
food in Christ's name we pray amen there will be no p.m services
tonight