Good morning again. I thank you for that reading
and prayer. Say something, but someone you
mentioned, our young ones. You know, I pray the Lord would
be pleased to bless each one of us with the sound of his gospel. But truly, don't we pray that
he'd be merciful to our children, that he would continue to bless
the preaching of his word for generations to come, and he'd
be pleased to show them the Lord Jesus Christ. I'd ask you to
open your Bible back to John chapter 8. John chapter 8. And while you're
turning there, I want to read just a verse of
scripture from 1 Corinthians 14 and verse 19. Listen to what Paul said here.
He said, in the church, I'd rather speak five words. five words with my understanding that by my voice I might teach
others also than a thousand words in an unknown time." He said,
just five words. Just five words. And I pray that
the Lord would enable me to do that this morning that he would
enable us to look at this passage of scripture here in John in
simplicity, in the simplicity of the gospel. Paul wrote, he
wrote to their second Corinthians, he said, I fear less by any means
as the serpent beguiled Eve through subtlety, through craftiness,
through trickery, that your minds should be corrupted from the
simplicity, the singleness, the oneness of the gospel that's
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Just five words. Five words for
a sinner. Five words for a needy sinner. That's my desire. That's my desire
to preach in truth and in simplicity. And just simple, easy to understand
terms. You know, I think about your
pastor. He has that radio message. 13 minutes, I think. Maybe 14 minutes on a long morning,
I believe the Lord enables him to say more in 13 minutes than
probably most men say in a whole lifetime, declaring God's word
in truth and in simplicity. Well, let's look here in John
chapter 8 this morning. Early in the morning, it says,
our Lord had come to the temple. And we read that when he did
that, the people came unto Him. And He sat down and He taught
them. Can you imagine just sitting
at the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ and being taught of Him? And while He was teaching the
people, could there be anything more precious? Could there be
anything more vital to the soul? And hearing a word from the Lord,
while he was doing that, and we should have such a tremendous
regard for this time. John, those songs you picked
this morning all deal with the Word. Is there anything more precious
than that time we have when the Word's being read? I don't know
if the sign's still out there. I remember coming here one time
and it said basically don't come through that door If somebody's
in prayer, are the words being spoken? We don't want to disrupt
that, do we? No. But the scribes and the Pharisees,
they had no regard for him, did they? No. They brought unto him
a woman taken in adultery. And listen, they didn't just
slip in the back door. They brought her in and they
set her down in the very midst of the congregation. Right in
the middle of the congregation for everybody to see. And no doubt that those men might
be seen themselves. You know, most of what the Pharisees
did was for that purpose, to be seen of men. And they spoke to the Lord. They
interrupted him and they said, this woman was taken in adultery. She was taken in the very act
of it. Look at verse 5. Now Moses and
the law commanded us to do this. And here's my first point. I
said five words. Five words. Look at these first five words.
That such should be stoned. That's five words, isn't it?
That such should be stoned. This woman, she had sinned. That's clear, isn't it? And the
consequence of that sin is death. Now the scribes and Pharisees,
I don't know that they had any interest in justice. They just seen this as an opportunity
to discredit our Lord in the sight of men. Had they truly been interested
in justice, they wouldn't have brought just one. They would
have brought both of them, wouldn't they? In Leviticus 20.10, we
read, the man that committeth adultery with another man's wife,
even he that committeth adultery with his neighbor's wife and
the adulterer, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely
be put to death. That's the law. But they only
brought the woman. But she, that doesn't make the
case against her any less, does it? She, according to the law,
was to be stoned. She was to be put to death. She had broken God's law. And you know the same is true
of each and every one of us. We can look down our nose at
her for a minute, can't we? Boy, if the Lord revealed anything
to us of our sin, We know that we find ourselves in the same
situation, the same condemnation. We have sinned against God. Just as Adam, God told Adam,
he said concerning the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,
in the day that you eat thereof thou shalt surely die. spiritual death. Death passed
upon all men. Adam disobeyed God. He sinned against God. And again,
the same is true of each and every one of us. Verse 5 of our
text. This woman who had broken God's
law. Scripture says this, that such
should be. What's God's word say? The wages
of sin is death. Right? The soul that sinneth,
it shall surely die. We're guilty. We're deserving
of death. Deserving of condemnation. And you know, I don't read anywhere
in this passage where she tried to defend herself. I believe
she knew that. Verse 5, look at the end of verse
5. Here we see a little of what
these fellows were up to. They asked the Lord, what sayest
thou? Why did they ask that? Because
they truly wanted knowledge? No, they said that tempting Him
that they might You know, if he said stone her, it would turn the people against
him. If he said let her go free, then
he'd be accusing of violating the law. But he said nothing. He said nothing to them. That might be good instruction
for us sometime. Sometime, probably most of the
time, right? He said nothing to them. Instead,
what did he do? He stooped down. Oh my, did the Lord Jesus Christ
ever stoop down? He came down. Did any man ever
come down like he came down? Seated in glory? He came down
to this earth. He was made flesh. Almighty God robed himself in
human flesh. He became a man. He took upon himself the form
of a servant. made in the likeness of sinful
flesh. He came down, didn't he? He suffered
like no man ever suffered. He died on the cross. He shed
his own blood. He came down. He stooped down,
didn't he? He stooped down, and then we
read here, with his finger, he wrote on the ground. That same finger that wrote on
those tables of stone. And there he is just writing
on the ground. He wrote the law. Turn to Romans
chapter 3 verse 19. What's the purpose of that law
that he wrote? Romans 3, 19. We know that what thing soever
the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law. Why? that every mouth may be stopped
and all the world may become guilty, guilty before Almighty
God." With that finger, he wrote on
the ground. He wrote the law. That same finger
that wrote on the wall. Remember what he said to Belshazzar? Wouldn't that be a terrible thing
to hear? You've been weighed in the balance. You know there's a lot of folks
in this world that feel like they've got a whole lot of good
deeds that outweigh their sin. This is what's going to be told. You've been weighed in the balance.
and found wanting. I can tell you as a kid, I remember
one time my mom had me get in line at the register to buy something
for her. And I think she'd given me $5
and she thought that was enough. Bunch of people behind me. And I went to pay and the lady
at the cashier said, that's not enough. And that was just for
something simple. Maybe a pack of gum and just
a few little odds and ends. That was embarrassing. That was humiliating. To be found
wanting. I don't want to be found wanting.
I want to be found in Christ. That same finger. Now listen,
it's not recorded. It's not recorded what he wrote. Some of the old writers say he
might have jotted down maybe some of those men's names. Maybe
jotted down a few things maybe they had been guilty of. We don't know. But they continued
asking. Look at verse 7, John 8 verse
7. So when they continued asking
him, he lifted up himself and he said to them. Here's the second point. Here's
five more words here. He that is without sin. He that is without sin. Now we've established this woman
She was a sinner. Right? There's no question. No
question about that. But is that only true of her? Was she the only sinner in that
room? You know, outward sin's not always
easy to see. We clean up nice, don't we? Our Lord says, He that is without
sin among you, let him cast the first stone. You know, he's talking to some
religious folks here, right? I mean, he's talking to the scribes
and the Pharisees. These are the so-called religious
leaders of the time. Is there any? Is there any without
sin? In Matthew 23, our Lord spoke
to a group of scribes and Pharisees and He said this, Woe unto you,
scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites. Boy, they must have just turned
over when He said that to them. The image that they had portrayed
to the people. He said, you're like whited sepulchers. Which indeed appear beautiful
outward. You know those caskets they make
now, they're beautiful aren't they? But what's inside? Dead man's bones. Huh? All uncleanness. Even so, outwardly, he said outwardly
you appear righteous. But within, you're full. You're full of hypocrisy and
iniquity. You're full of iniquity, transgression
of the law. These scribes and Pharisees were
not without sin. Romans 3, 23, all. Can we fit into that? All have sinned and come short
of the glory of God. Our Lord referred, in Matthew,
He referred to those Pharisees as an evil and adulterous generation. Yet, they're ready to condemn
this woman. This is my point. And I hope
this is a simple point. All have sinned. All. That's pretty clear, isn't it?
All have sinned. Not just some. All. All have sinned. All have transgressed
God's holy law. All are deserving of death and
condemnation. You know, knowing that, wouldn't
you think at times maybe we might have a little kinder spirit toward
others? Maybe even be a little more forgiven
ourselves and I promise you I'm not saying anything to you that
I'm not saying to myself first Galatians chapter 6 we read this
he says brethren brethren he's speaking to believers here and
he says brethren if any man be overtaken in a fall ye which
are spiritual Restore such a one and do so in a spirit of meekness Considering yourself Lest thou
also be tempted Let's let's not forget. Let's not forget the
pit That we were we've been digged out of Ephesians 4 32 Be ye kind
one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God,
for Christ's sake, hath forgiven you. Let's move on here. He said this,
that such should be stoned. The wages of sin is dead. He said, He that is without sin,
all, all have sin. He that is without sin, let him
first cast a stone at her. Verse 8, and again he stooped
down and he wrote on the ground, and they which heard it, being
convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning
at the eldest even to the last and Jesus was left, the Lord
Jesus Christ was left alone and the woman standing in the midst. And when Jesus had lifted up
himself and saw none but the woman. I don't know how many people
were still there But I know these two, the Lord Jesus Christ and the
sinner. He saw none but the woman. He laid his eyes on her. You know, back there in the book
of Ezekiel, Ezekiel 16, remember that child Remember that little
infant girl cast out into the open field? What a miserable,
what an awful sight that must have been. But we read this,
the Lord said this, He said, When I passed by thee, and then
what did He say? And I saw thee. I saw thee polluted
in thine own blood. He saw her. And he said, live. He spoke life to her. You know, it's awful. It's awful what this woman had
done. And the Lord did not justify
her in her sin. He didn't deny the justice of
the law in this matter. The justice of the law in condemning
her. You ever experience something
or see something and ask yourself, what good could possibly come
from this? Does that ever happen to you?
I've seen things, and I question, and I know we shouldn't. Right? God worketh all things. But do
you ever just look at something and just ask what good could
possibly come from this? This woman, she was taken in
the very act of adultery. What a serious serious matter
she was she was drug there's no excuse in these men's actions
either they they drug her into the temple she knew she knew
the law she knew the consequence she had to be she had to be humiliated
she had to be just scared out of her mind I'm gonna I'm going
to die. What good? Can good come from
this? Joseph, back in the Old Testament,
remember what he said to his brothers? He said, you meant this for evil, but God meant it for good. John 8 10 he saw none but the
woman and listen to what he said to her he said five more words
here where are those thine accusers is there is there nobody here
to take up a stone and cast at you Is there no man to execute
the sentence of death on you? You know, the law required two
or three witnesses. And often the witness is the
one involved in carrying out the sentence. But there wasn't a single witness
left, was there? You know, up to this point, There's nothing to indicate that
this woman had said one word. We just read this little bit.
What's the purpose of the law? That every mouth may be stopped
and the whole world guilty before God. You ever been brought to that
point? You know, I think as a kid, I
can think of times, I can think as an adult, times that, you
know, maybe being accused of something. We always got an answer,
right? But it was, point to this one,
point to that one. But you know what, when we're
truly guilty, ain't nothing to say, is there? Huh? Nothing. Nothing to say. Every mouth may
be stopped why because I'm guilty Guilty where are those died? accusers at no man And she said No, man Lord You
see that no, man Lord You know, the Pharisees called
him master. And you know, I'm sure they clenched
their teeth when they were saying that. But she calls him Lord. Lord. Remember what the publican
said? Lord, be merciful to me, sinner. What did the thief on the cross
say? Lord, remember me. That leper, he said, Lord, if
you will, you can make me whole. She calls him Lord. And she does
well, doesn't she? He is the Lord Jesus Christ. She calls on the name of the
Lord. What's God's word declared? Whosoever
shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Let's read on in verse 11. Five
more words. Verse 10. All the joy that must have filled
her soul when she heard this, neither Do I condemn thee? This sinful woman, worthy of death, a transgressor
of God's law, standing before the judge of all the earth, he
with whom we have to do, he that holds our very breath in his
hands, Hebrews 4 verse 13 says this, neither is there any creature
that is not manifest in his sight. Nothing's hid. Nothing's hid
from Almighty God. All things are naked and open
unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. He's all-knowing. He's all-seeing. And he says, the Lord Jesus Christ
says to this woman, neither do I condemn thee. How's that possible? How is that
possible? John 3, 17, God sent not in His
Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him
might be saved. How's this possible? He's a just God, isn't He? But
He's also a Savior. Neither do I condemn thee turn
to turn to Romans chapter 8 verse 1 how's this possible Romans 8 1 There is therefore now. When? Now. Right now. What's he say there? No condemnation. For who? Don't say that about everybody,
does it? For who? To them which are in Christ Jesus,
who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. How is
it possible? Because the Lord Jesus Christ
bore our penalty. Huh? He bore our judgment. He bore our condemnation. And
not just for this woman's sin, but for the sins of all His elect. Every one. Every one of His sheep. Christ hath redeemed us from
the curse of the law being made a curse for us. We read that this morning. He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. Don't you love that passage of
scripture? The chastisement of our peace was upon him. I remember Brother Henry used
to read that. He said, stick your name, if
you're one of his, put your name right there. Huh? With his stripes
we are healed. Neither do I condemn thee. Romans 8.33 says this, Who shall
lay anything to the charge of God's
elect. There's nothing to accuse them
of. We're justified. Delivered from the curse of the
law, he was made a curse for us. Who shall lay anything to
the charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies. It is Christ that died, yea rather
that is risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also
maketh intercession for us. Jesus Christ came into the world
to save sinners. Neither do I condemn thee. Now quickly, back to our text
here in John chapter 8, verse 11. Five more words. He tells her
this, go and sin no more. Now, is that possible to sin
no more? No. Listen, we can't make it
through a worship service without sinning. I can't make it through
this last point without sinning, can we? No. But consider this
woman's way of life. Consider the situation that she
had been taken from. Maybe her friends, her companions,
her tenor of life. What's he saying here? Don't
go back. Don't go back to that. Romans 6 says, Shall we continue
in sin that grace may abound? What's the answer to that question?
Pretty strong, isn't it? God forbid. God forbid. How shall we that are dead to
sin live any longer therein? You know what? I was thinking,
Abby used to work for a surgeon. And he was a skilled surgeon. I suppose one of the benefits
of her working for him, anytime we needed medical care, he'd
see us. And he'd do so at his own expense. He would do so at no charge. He was an orthopedic surgeon.
But you know what we didn't do? We didn't go out and just try
to break bones to have an excuse to go see him and take advantage
of his services, right? No. If Christ be in you, the body
is dead because of sin, but the spirit is life because of righteousness. We're dead to sin. And listen,
if I'm regenerated, if I'm justified, if I'm sanctified, God said this,
He's cleansed us from all sin. We're dead to the dominion of
sin. Scripture says this, sin shall
no longer have dominion over you. You're not under the law,
but under grace. Think about Lot's wife. Lot's
wife. Lot and his family left Sodom. That place was full of sin. There weren't 10 righteous people
in that whole land. What'd she do? She looked back. Don't read about the rest of
them looking. She looked back. That's where heart was. She turned to a pillar of salt. Listen. Has God delivered you? Would you go back? Would you
go back? Go and sin no more. Well, what do we read there to
open with? I'd rather speak five words. Five words with the voice of
my understanding that I might teach others also. You still have John 8. Look there
at verse 5. Five words. That such should
be stoned. Wages of sin is death. Verse
7, he that is without sin, all, all have sin. Verse 10, five words, where are
those thine accusers? Can Satan accuse you? Huh? He's been conquered. Can the
law accuse you? Christ has fulfilled the law. Can judgment? Christ has been judged. God's
justice is satisfied. Verse 11, neither do I condemn thee. Could there be any sweeter words? Think of that woman's condition.
Think how she'd been drug in before those people. She had
the fear for her life, the embarrassment, the humiliation. What does he
say here? Neither do I condemn thee. And then five more words
there. Go and sin no more. First John 2, 1, these things
I write unto you that you sin not. And, but here's the good,
if any man sin, we have an advocate with the
Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. I pray, I pray the Lord would
speak to our hearts here this morning in truth, and simplicity
and that he would let us leave this place rejoicing, rejoicing
in him, resting in him. I pray he'd be pleased to bless
you.