One of the evils, probably the greatest evil of
a preacher in a conference or any time is wanting to be original. One of the greatest evils. There's
nothing new. But it's pretty bad and we can't
even be original thanking the ladies for the food, brother.
You beat me to it. But I'll say it anyway. I know
it'll sound like new because it's coming from me. We thank
you, my wife and I thank you ladies for preparing all the
food. I know your pastor took a lot
of credit, especially when it comes to Glenda cooking food. He said she would say different. But brother, I know you didn't
cook the food. How did you know? We think we think we've had a
wonderful time. Brother, appreciate that message.
What a wonderful message. I asked the pastor downstairs
to get him some water. I said, Can I just say ditto
and sit down? He said, No. Well. It's not new. But I pray and
ask the Lord this morning that he would once again show us show
me. His mercy. I need mercy. I did not say I
needed mercy. I need mercy. I need mercy now. I know that all men need mercy. But I know I need mercy. And
I pray the Lord to once again show himself in his word bring honor and glory to his
name, and show mercy. It is the greatest glory of God,
as is revealed in the Word, when Moses asked him, I pray thee,
I beseech thee, show me your glory. The Lord said, I'll proclaim
the name of the Lord, merciful, gracious. He's a merciful God. He delights to show mercy, brother. And I want to see this morning
one more time. In John chapter eight, if you
will open your Bibles with me there, John chapter eight. And you know this passage. You read this passage. And I
pray the Lord will once again show us himself in this passage,
John chapter eight, verse one says, Jesus went into the Mount
of Olives, and early in the morning he came again into the temple,
and all the people came unto him, and he sat down and taught
them." Well, what would the Lord be teaching them? Stay with me for a moment. I'm
going to go verse by verse. There's so many different ways
I've preached this message. I think I'm going to preach it
verse by verse today. What would the Lord Jesus Christ
be teaching them? The Lord Jesus Christ is the
Word of God, and he taught the Word. He taught the Old Testament
and showed them the things concerning himself. It is no different this
morning. It is no different this morning.
We must be taught of him. We must be taught when the Lord
Jesus Christ sat down and taught the people. All pray that the
Lord Jesus Christ would teach us. If it's if it's the word
of this man, this pastor, your pastor, Brother Chris. It's just the word of a man.
But when the Lord Jesus Christ teaches. When he teaches. It's written in the prophets,
they should all be taught of God. And everyone that is taught
of God, what does it say? They come to the Lord Jesus Christ. When he teaches, he doesn't teach
a mess. All his students are graduating. All his students, all the ones
that he teaches, he's not just speaking a mess. He talks to
his people. He reveals himself to them. And
it does not tell us what particular passage he was teaching. One
time he came into the synagogue and read from the book of Isaiah,
and after reading, he said, this day has this prophecy been fulfilled
in your ears. Every time. Every time. He is the fulfillment. of all
this written in the Prophets and the Psalms. He is a fulfillment. He taught
them. But I think, if you will allow me, I think
he was talking to them about the need for mercy, need for
God's mercy. And the Lord always used illustrations,
and this is no miracle, or no coincidence, that these men interrupted
the Lord Jesus Christ with this particular scenario. The Lord
Jesus Christ is going to illustrate, illustrate right here, how God
saves sinners. And it says in verse 3, the scribes
and the Pharisees came The scribes and the Pharisees brought unto
him a woman taken in adultery. The scribes and the Pharisees
represent God's holy law. God's holy law is inflexible. God's holy law, it's holy law. It's unjust. And it demands,
it demands perfect obedience of every one of us, of every
son of Adam. obedience, perfect obedience.
The law does not contain any stipulation of mercy in it. The
law says do and live. That's it. Do this and live. You don't do, you die. It's that
cut and dry. There is no stipulation. They
brought unto him a woman taken in adultery. The law apprehended
this woman. And I want us to notice here
that the law always brings guilty sinners, and I believe I'm saying
it right, guilty sinners to the judge. The Lord Jesus Christ
is the judge of all earth. He said all judgment is given
to the Son. All judgment. The Father judges
no man. He has committed all judgment
to the Son. This which is happening right
here, when our Lord was teaching, is going to happen also in eternity,
when this world is over. And all the souls of men come
before God. They're coming before that man,
the Lord Jesus Christ. They brought these men, the Pharisees,
the Sadducees, they brought this woman, the scribes and the Pharisees,
excuse me, brought this woman to the right place, the judge
of all earth. And he must do right. The God
of all earth must do right. Not only is he the judge, But
he is the interpreter of the law. He's the giver of the law
and he's the interpreter of the law. You and I, men by nature,
we have a way of trying to squirm out of everything. I believe
you know what I'm saying. We say, well, Adam started it. He said, the wife, the woman
you gave me, not my fault, the woman you gave me. Always a man,
women always try to say, well, I think it means this. This is
what I believe it means. But the Lord Jesus Christ, he
is God and the holy law of God demands perfection, not only
in the outward, the actions, but also in the thoughts and
imaginations and intentions. And this woman was brought before
the Lord, the judge of all earth. And notice it says she was taken. She was taken in adultery. Adultery is the sin committed
when two who are not married are joined. That's adultery. This picture is the picture of
the Lord Jesus Christ's wife, His bride. His bride. And all His people from eternity
were given to him as spouse to the Lord Jesus Christ. And he
is a jealous, jealous God. But we, in our nature, have committed
spiritual adultery. We, in our nature, have joined
ourselves to one who is no God. We have given our affections
to one who is not the true and living God, who is not our And
we are guilty of spiritual adultery. We are guilty of spiritual adultery
by going after false gods. This woman represents the Church
of the Lord Jesus Christ. It represents me. I see myself
in this woman. This is the sin of which The
Holy Spirit convicts. This is the sin which the Holy
Spirit convicts his people. All men are sinners by nature,
by practice, by choice. But the Lord said in John chapter
16, when the Holy Spirit comes, he will convict of sin and that
they have not believed in me. You have not received the Lord
Jesus Christ. You've received every other God.
You've received every other God into your bosom, but you have
not received the Lord Jesus Christ. Guilty. Guilty. And all mouth
is going to be stopped. Guilty. This woman was taken
in the very act. She was taken in adultery. And
notice it says here, they set her in the midst. All of the
people came unto the Lord, and the Lord was teaching them. And
these Pharisees came in, these scribes, and they cast this woman
on the ground. Can you see this woman? Can you
see yourself before the holy law of God? Guilty, condemned,
guilty, naked, exposed, shame, condemnation. This woman was
taken in adultery." Notice it says, "...in the very act." It
says, "...they said unto him, Master, this woman was taken
in adultery in the very act." Sufficient witnesses. Sufficient
guilty. Notice here also the sovereign
mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ. But where do you see that? She
was taken in the very act. She was taken in the very act. That's sovereign mercy. You see,
if she was taken in the very act, where was the man? Where was the man? The law commands
that both should be put to death. All are sinners and come short
of God. All are deserving of God's wrath. But listen, only
the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ is brought to the feet
of the Lord Jesus Christ to receive mercy. Only those who are convicted
of sin. The Holy Spirit is not convicted
of sin and then leads you in your misery. He doesn't convict. It's a hard thing, brother. You
mentioned that. It didn't seem like a work of
grace. No. It's very troubling. This woman
was sitting there in front of the Lord Jesus. She said, I'm
dead. All she's waiting for is the
stones to fly. I'm dead. I'm guilty. Where's
the man? Can you imagine the man? Ooh,
I got away. I got away. Oh, no. Oh, no. Salvation is being brought
to the Lord Jesus Christ today. Today. This man might have thought,
I got away with it. And men think that because the
lightning doesn't strike them right then, they got away with
something. But God's justice is sure. Their foot will slide
in due time. God will judge all that God would bring you
and me today, this morning, to His feet. Expose us. Expose me for what I am. That's
mercy. That's mercy. She was caught
in the very act. Only the woman was brought and
only the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ is brought to the feet
of the Lord Jesus Christ. All are guilty. There is evidence
against the whole world. We know that whatsoever the law
sayeth it sayeth to them that are under the law that every
mouth shall be stopped, and every mouth is stopped. The woman's
mouth is stopped in this occasion, and every mouth will be stopped
in that final day. Those who stand outside the Lord
Jesus Christ in their own righteousness, their mouth will be stopped at
that time and become guilty. The objects of mercy are convicted
or exposed or laid naked. Did I say that right? Okay. I understand here in West Virginia
you have different ways of saying that. I didn't know. I should
have looked at another word. Sorry. convinced of sin. Convinced. If God gives me what
I deserve, if I get what I deserve, the stones are going to fly. Now, Moses in the law commanded
us that such should be stoned, but what says thou? What does he say? What does infinite
What does the infinite wisdom? It says here in this text that
they brought him looking to accuse him. They thought they had the
Lord Jesus Christ, who is the wisdom of God, with his back
against the wall. What's he going to say? We got
him now. If he says, let her go, uh-huh,
we'll say he's violating God's law. And if he says, stone her,
we'll say, well, he's not a friend of sinners. But that's like saying, well,
we just going to we're going to. We're going to put a riddle
before an infinite wisdom and an infinite wisdom is not going
to be able to solve it. Well, the fact is, none other
could. You could ask the heavens. Can
God show mercy? Ask the stars, ask the creation,
ask the angels, can God show mercy? Can he be merciful and
yet be truthful to his law? Can he be merciful? The law says the law must be
satisfied. Justice must be satisfied. But
the infinite wisdom of God has found a way. I found a way. It says here, they said, what
sayest thou? Well, that's all that matters.
What does he say? In a moment, we'll see what he
says. But right now, let us see what he does. First, let's see
what he does now. Our Lord, it says here. Every time you see this little
word, but stop. What do you say? This said they tempted him that
they might have a fusing, but Jesus, but God who is what? Rich in mercy. But God who is
rich in mercy for his great love with which he loved us. Even
when we were dead in Christ, there's no hope for us. There's
no hope for this woman. She's dead. There's no hope for
you this morning. You're dead. But the Lord Jesus
Christ. But Him. But Jesus stooped down. Jehovah saves. Jehovah saves. You know, the Lord didn't say
to this woman, here she is sitting on the passed down before all
the people, guilty, naked, in her shame, and the Lord Jesus
Christ didn't say to her, now, if you believe in me, I'll save
you. He didn't say that. He didn't
say, if you just exercise your free will, I'll save you. The
Lord Jesus Christ did something. The Lord Jesus Christ did something. As a result of him doing something,
I'm getting ahead of myself, I know. I'm not a speaker. As
a result of the Lord Jesus Christ doing something, the woman saw
what he did and she said, you're my Lord. I'm going to say that
again. But let's go first and see what
he did. It says here, he stooped. He stooped. What condescension. Here is the Holy One. separate
from sinners, that holy thing that should be born of thee shall
be called Son of God. God manifest in the flesh. Oh,
what condescension that God should take on our flesh, human flesh,
and wander around in this, go around in this world around sinners. Have you ever
been around somebody that you just don't like? That just rubs
you wrong? You can't stand it. I want to
get away to somebody. I thank the Lord for brothers
and sisters in Christ. You feel good, feel welcome,
feel at home. But I'm talking about just feeling
like you just can't. People don't like you. People
don't like you. The Lord Jesus Christ, He is
God. And man by nature hated Him. All the time, all the imaginations
of man's thoughts continually wicked, continually against the
Lord Jesus Christ, continually saying, We will not have this
man rule over us. And He is here in this world.
What condescension. He came into this world and was
made flesh that He might redeem them that were under the law.
In the fullness of time, God sent His Son. made of a woman
made under the law, made under the law. He was circumcised on
the eighth day and subject to keep every bit of the law, every
bit of the law. He stooped. What great condescension
that the lawgiver should become subject to that law. He did this
for one reason. Must be honored. God is holy,
and if he is going to save, if he's going to save his people,
if he's going to deliver them in the presence of God, as you
said, brother, look, there's no spot. No spot, then there
must be no spot in that obedience. He came and perfectly obeyed
God's holy law. He stooped, identified, he identified
the spotless one. He stooped down to where the
woman was. He identified with her. He became
one with her. He became one with his people. What great, great condescension. The Lord Jesus Christ stooped
down. And these men, they said unto
him again, Well, he stooped down. I notice
here it says, but Jesus stooped down and with his finger wrote
on the ground as though he heard them not. He wrote on the ground. The only other time we have where,
well, one of the times we have where God wrote with his finger
on the ground was when the Lord wrote the Ten Commandments and
gave them to Moses. This is what it is saying. He
said, think not that I've come to destroy the law and the prophets. I didn't come to destroy it.
I came to fulfill it. I came to do it. That law must
be honored. So when he first came with that
first humiliation in the redemption of his people, in the salvation
of his people, he first established righteousness. And that's what
he came to do. Bless God, he did it. And then
it says, So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself
again and said, he that is without sin among you, let him pass the
first stone. The Lord Jesus Christ. He knew
he was talking to these people were quick with the trigger.
These people were quick with the rocks, they were self-righteous,
they were just like the Apostle Paul who said. According to the
law, I was blameless. And this is just a whole bunch
of solitarsis, a whole bunch of them. They are those that
trusted themselves that they are righteous and others are
sinners. And they were sure this was a sinner because she was
caught in the act. And the Lord Jesus Christ knew
he was talking to. He was talking to people who
were ready to throw the stone. But they could not throw a stone.
They could not throw a stone. You know why they could not throw
a stone? Because her representative was right there. The Lord Jesus
Christ, who is representing her, is right there. None, none can
lay anything to the charge of God's elect. None can put one
thing on the charge of God's elect. They continued asking,
and he said, he that is without sin among you, let him cast the
first stone. Now, the Lord Jesus Christ does
not justify his people by saying, well, I'm going to take my people
and take them into glory because, after all, they're not as bad
as these other people. That's not the argument. That's
not the argument. The Lord Jesus Christ justifies
his people because he goes and suffers the punishment in their
stead. Just like what Paul wrote to Philemon concerning Onesimus. Onesimus had wronged Philemon. Onesimus had stolen and run away
from Philemon. And Onesimus wrote a letter back.
Can you imagine Onesimus walking up to Philemon? Onesimus was
a runaway slave. No good. He deserved death. And they killed slaves back then.
You don't have to go back that far. Just go back into our history. You don't run away. I'm going
to show you a lesson. Can you imagine Onesimus walking
up to his master with that letter? Read that letter. Read that letter.
Can you imagine the confidence? Notice the confidence of the
Apostle Paul in the grace of God when he asked I'm jumping,
I'll stay with me when he when he says to Philemon, you receive
Onesimus as me. I'm confident you're going to
do it. That's how the grace of God works. And the grace of God
saves his people from their sins, saves his people from their sin.
These men could not throw the stone. And the argument is, Father,
If they let what they owe you what they owe that holy law.
Put it on my account. And that's exactly what God did.
He who knew no sin was made sin for us. He was made sin for us. He bore our sins in his own body
and went to the cross and paid the debt. I pay the debt. That's
what his humiliation We see his humiliation first and his condescension
of coming into this world and being made flesh. His humiliation
to be subject to the very law that he gave. His humiliation
to go to the cross and suffer that ignominious death. Oh, how men mocked him. Oh, how
we mocked him. But the Lord Jesus Christ was
great love. He humbled himself and he identified
with this woman and he went to the cross and he bled and he
died. Now, when he died. Was he successful? Was he successful? Did he come
merely to give an attempt? Was it merely an attempt or was
it a contribution? I'm going to do my part. Now
you do your part. Or was it an actual salvation? Was it actually putting away
all their guilt? Was it actually paying for all
their sins? In the death of the Lord Jesus
Christ and what he did on Calvary, the one who has to be satisfied
is God first. God first. And God Caesar in
Romans 4 or 25, he was delivered for our offenses and raised for
our justification. Raised for our justification.
When he rose from the grave, he rose free. Free from sin. He bore our sin. But when he
rose from the grave, he had put away our sin as far as the east
is from the west. It says in the scripture, God
can't remember them anymore. And here's what it says here
in this passage, the Lord Jesus Christ. Again, he stooped down
and wrote on the ground, and when they had heard it being
convicted of their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning
at the eldest, even to the last, and Jesus was left alone. This
woman, these men, they would have They would have stoned.
You see the power of God. We're delivered by the power
of God. The blood of Jesus Christ is
the power of God. The gospel of Jesus Christ is
the power of God unto salvation. He was left with the woman alone
and the woman standing in the midst. And you see that the Lord
Jesus Christ did away with all her accusers. That's what this
woman saw. The Lord Jesus Christ did away
with all her accusers. He did not say she's not guilty.
She's guilty. He did not say we're just going
to pretend it didn't happen. His representation, His intercession
for her, and this woman just standing there amazed. Amazed. Can you see what the Lord Jesus
Christ has done for you? Amazing grace. Amazing grace. All my accusers are gone. All my accusers are gone. Where
are they? Not only they're gone, they're
gone because there's no more sin. Look at Romans with me. My English Bible is always in
the wrong page. Romans 8. That's why it looked wrong. That
was in the Book of Acts. If you have a Spanish Bible and
you read it, or just if you have one Bible and you read it, and
then you grab another Bible and try to read it, You ever notice
how on the wrong page you can't find it? It looks like a different
Bible. Well, this is a different Bible. It's the same word, but
it's all in Spanish, all in English. Verse 28 says, And we know that
all things work together for good to them that love God, to
them who are the called according to his purpose. Now, this time
right here with this woman, she would have thought, well, that's
not good. It's not good. I was exposed. Oh, no, that's
good. That's good. See, no one is ever
going to see the glory of God. And the salvation of her soul
until they see first their sinners. No one's ever going to see. All
things work together for good. For whom he did foreknow, then
he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his
son, that he might be the firstborn of many, many brethren. Moreover,
whom he did predestinate, them he also called, and whom he called,
them he also justified. He justified. And whom he justified,
them he also glorified. What shall we say to these things
if God be for us in Christ Jesus, who can be against us? What could
this woman say? What can the church say? Guilty. If the Lord Jesus Christ represents
me, who can be against me? Who can be against us? He that
spared not his own son, that's the reason God can spare you. And be just in doing it. He that
spared not his own son, but delivered him up for this church, for us
all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is
God in Christ Jesus who justified his people. Who is he that condemneth? Woman, where are thou then accusers?
Woman, church, where are your accusers? You know that sin. Your sin is ever before you.
You know. You confess Oh, wretched man
that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death? Your
sin is ever before you. But before God, it's not there. It's not there. Who shall be
able to lay anything to the charge of God's elect? Woman, where
are thine accusers? He lifted up himself. He lifted
up himself when he was resurrected, when the Lord Jesus Christ came
forth from the grave. His life and his death is meaningless
apart from his resurrection. God is satisfied. God raised
him on the third day, and we are justified by him and his
resurrection. When he had lifted up himself
and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are
those non-accusers? Hath no man condemned thee? Can
no one condemn you before God? Can the holy law of God condemn
you? Can Satan? Well, he tries, doesn't
he? He tries. But can the holy law
of God condemn you? Oh, no. The Lord Jesus Christ
honored that law. He established perfect righteousness.
That righteousness is ours by faith in him. Thy righteousness
is unto all that believe." Righteousness. He is Jehovah to condemn. I stand
before God dressed in the righteousness of Christ my Savior. And sin? He did away with it.
Who can lay anything to the charge of God's elect? Hath no man accused
thee? And the woman? Where are those
unaccused? Hath no man condemned thee? Notice,
she said, no man, Lord. She didn't speak until after
she saw what he did. When the Lord shows you what
he's done, he'll open your mouth. He'll open your mouth to praise
him. He'll open your mouth to sing his presence and say, Lord,
you are my Lord, my Lord and my God, my Savior. Before then,
she couldn't open her mouth. Guilty. But when the Lord did
away with her accusers. She could open her mouth and
she said, Lord. You know, she had no interest in him before
this. She had no. She probably heard of him, no
doubt, the Lord Jesus Christ, his fame went through all the
land, but she had no interest in him. And so also his people. Until God brings This mercy brings
us to know him and his mercy and reveals himself as our Lord.
Then we have interest in him. He said, No man, Lord. And Jesus
said unto her, Now this is salvation. Neither do I condemn thee. Neither
do I condemn thee. That's salvation. When God doesn't
condemn you. When the judge of all earth doesn't
condemn you, that's salvation. Neither do I condemn thee. Why?
Because he was condemned. He was judged. There is no condemnation
in Christ Jesus. Why? Because he was condemned.
He was made a curse. Now notice here, he delivers
her from sin. He delivers her from the power
of sin. Go and sin no more. He reveals himself. Reveals his
work, reveals himself to her, and then he says to her, go and
sin no more. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Don't sin there anymore. And he's not saying don't commit
any more sin because all men are sinners. We know that from
the word. But when God reveals himself
to his people, like you said, they can't help but believe.
They continue to believe because he sustains us. He keeps us in
faith. We're kept by the power of God
through faith. Go and sin no more. Now, this
woman was not guilty of that sin anymore, I'm sure of that. But there's not a day goes by
or a moment goes by we don't have a foolish thought, evil
thought. Go and sin no more. The Lord
delivers from power of sin, in reigning power of sin. The Lord was merciful to this
woman. He showed forth his mercy and
his grace. Has he shown mercy to you? I pray the Lord show mercy to
every one of us here this morning. Have mercy on me. May the Lord bless this Word.