in John's Gospel, chapter 8,
where Brother Paul read, Well, I so enjoy coming up here
and being with you all. Joe said he is common Joe, and
that our Lord said to John that the common people heard him gladly,
and they do. They really do. And that's one
of the first things that Fred Wood said to me last night was,
he said he'd heard me on a tape. He said, boy, leaned over the
pulpit and he said, boy, just like me, he said, we'll butcher
the king's English. You know, one of the first things
he ever said is, tell me how bad my English was. Oh, it takes
a lot of grace to put up these preachers, I tell you. Don't it, Paul? We've had a good time, and I
was telling Mindy before the service this evening how God
has so blessed this work. You know, I've been—I come up
here the first time twelve or thirteen years ago, and and came up a little while after
Paul was up, and the Lord has so blessed the work and has blessed
you all to grow in grace and manifest the character of Christ
and people being converted and There's these young people, look
at all these young people here, these young men, young women. Oh boy, that's wonderful. And
I pray God continue to bless you, Brother Paul. I'm sure we're
using you here, you and Mindy, and I pray you continue to bless
him. And you all pray for him as he prays for you. And if there's
one thing that we truly need, and only God can give it to us,
is love, love that covers a multitude of sin, love that's very forbearing,
love that's forgiving, and love that doesn't think evil. And
if it does, then they recognize that it's wrong to do it. And
let me try to bring a message tonight. It won't take very long.
I generally don't preach. I think about 35 minutes, 40
at the most, most times. And let me bring a message tonight,
and I want to call it, Law and Grace, What a Difference. Law and grace, what a difference.
Now those, it's very obvious, it's so easy to spot those who
are seeking to be justified by the law. It's so easy to spot
them, those that are self-righteous and pharisaical. And how you
do it is, is because they find the sin in others and can always
justify themselves. Our Lord spake a parable in Luke
chapter 18 and verse 9, and this is another way. He said that
He spake this parable of certain which trusted in themselves that
they were more righteous than others and despised others. A man who thinks he's better
than everybody else always despises other folks. He always does. And that's how you spot them.
And here, in this story of this woman taken in adultery, we have
what we call good people and a bad person. Good people and
a bad person. And instead of having any understanding,
instead of having any compassion, instead of having any feelings
of pity or embarrassment or shame, These folks brought this woman,
and like Pharisees and self-righteous people always do, they delight
in putting people on the spot. Have you ever been around folks
who just like to embarrass other people, like to put them on the
spot, like to make them look like a fool? And I've seen people
do other people that way, and it hurts me so much to see them
do that. And that's what they're doing
here. They've got this woman, taken in adultery, And they're
having a field day, putting her on the spot and embarrassing
her publicly. You see, you see they think,
self-righteous people think, by pointing out the darkness
in others, that they're causing their own light to shine just
a little brighter. And they, you know, don't...
You're used to saying, uh, this song, you know, this little light
of mine, I'm gonna let it shine. Don't ever sing that. You know,
I hope I didn't get nothing in your mind, because we ain't got,
we ain't got no little light. Our Lord said there in John 8
and 12, I am the light of the world. He that followeth me shall
not walk in darkness, but shall have the light, the revelation,
the understanding of life which is in Christ. If we have any
revelation, if we have any understanding of anything, it's because he
turned the light on. And so, here, beloved, the law
says here in verse 5, They said to the master, says, Now the
law, Moses and the law, commanded us, commanded us that such should
be stoned. And then they say to him, What
sayest thou? You see, this is the problem that the scribes
and the Pharisees put to our master. And they wasn't interested
in a woman taking an adultery. It says there in verse 6, And
this they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse
him. They were laying a trap for our
master. But they put a real problem to
him. They put a real problem to him and a problem to anybody
who's trying to be justified by the law. The law commands
us that such should be stoned. But what do you say? Now, they
knew the gentleness, they knew the graciousness, they knew the
pity and patience of our Lord Jesus Christ. They knew he was
a friend of publicans and sinners. That was one of the accusations
that they made against him. They wasn't bragging on him when
they said he's a friend of publicans and sinners. That was an accusation.
That was condemnation they pronounced on him. Now, from your masteries
with publicans and sinners, why does he do that? And they knew
that his voice was—that he didn't cry in the street, and his voice
was never lifted up, and he wasn't heard in the streets like they
were. They was—they always lifted up their voice, always letting
their religion to be known, always showing where their saying was,
but our Master, he wasn't getting cried because his voice was to
be lifted up, and they knew. They knew that what a kind and
gracious and compassionate man that he was, and so they brought
this woman, and they thought in bringing her to him, taking
an act of adultery, they could compel him to condemn himself—not
her, but himself—by opposing the law of Moses. They weren't
interested in what this woman done. They was interested in
trapping our master. tempting him and accusing him.
Now, if we can compel him to take our sides with this woman,
then we've got him for being a lawbreaker. And if he storms this woman,
then there will never be another sinner for him or her. So what
a problem they faced him with, huh? And beloved, all of us here
can learn something if God the Holy Spirit, as Brother Paul
prayed, would enlighten our understanding. Here we have the claims of the
law and the workings of the grace of God face to face. The lawgiver and the grace giver,
that's face to face, huh? But look here, first thing, we
have a sinner under the law, a sinner under the law. And early
in the morning, verse 2, he came again to the temple, and all
the people came to him, and he sat down. He sat down. That's so wonderful to go—you
know, it'd be nice sometimes if we just sat down and take
the Scriptures, and especially just take the Scriptures without
any notes or something, and just sit down and say, let's open
up the Bible and study. And that's what our Master did.
He'd take a portion of scriptures, and he began to teach the people.
And so they all gathered around here, and describing the Pharisees,
they brought unto him a woman taken in adultery, and they sent
her in the midst. There's all these people gathered
around. Picture this scene, if you can. All these people gathered
around, our master's sitting down and teaching, and they come
pushing through the crowd, disturbing and hollering and carrying on
and getting out of the way, and really, you know, they're just
making a commotion. And when they get there, the
master's still sitting down. And they come up to him, and
there he's sitting, and they sent this woman out in front
of everybody. For her to see, and there she
stands, and there she stands, she's embarrassed, she's ashamed,
and her head's down, and they sent her in the midst, and they
said unto him, interrupt his preaching. I don't want anybody
to interrupt mine, but they interrupt the Lord's glory, they interrupt
the Master. They stop Him from whose lips
grace was poured forth from. They said, look here, we, this
woman was taking an adultery in the very act. So we here have
a sinner under the law, and she's a sinner, thus nobody can't deny
that. You can't deny it. She's taken
in the very act of adultery. That's a bad, that's a bad thing.
That's an awful thing. Adultery's bad, and if you can
do it with a look, imagine what it is to do it in the flesh.
And here she had done the bribe. She had been taken in the bribe.
They came and got her and probably gave her time to put her clothes
on. And the law! Here we have a sinner under the
law. She's a sinner that can't be denied. And the law condemned
her. The Scripture says that, that
Moses and the law commended that she be stoned. And that's exactly
right. In Leviticus, beloved, first
chapter 20 and verse 10, it says that if anybody's taken an act
of adultery, they shall be stoned to death, both of them. And they
took her, and they had the law on their side, and the law condemned
her to be stoned to death, and that's another terrible fact
that can't be denied. They had the right to pick up the stones under the
law and stone her to death. Huh? And as far as the law was
concerned, she was without any hope at all. Because we know
that whatsoever the days of the law saith, it saith, fear them
that are under the law that ever now may be stopped. The whole
world guilty before God, and that no flesh will be justified
in the sight of God, because by the law beloved men are brought
to a knowledge of sin. The law wasn't given to justify
men, so the law condemned her. There she is. She's under a curse,
the curse of death, curse that started at death. That's what
the law said. She's caught, huh? And oh, beloved, now listen to
this. Where there's guilt, where there
is guilt, whether you feel it or not, The law can't do nothing
but condemn you. Huh? People say all the time,
well, I don't feel no condemnation, I don't feel no guilt. If you're
a lawbreaker, that's, you're already guilty, whether you feel
it or not. That's people who commit murder and don't have
no compunction about it whatsoever, but they guilty of murder. And
here's another way she felt any guilt than whether they felt
any guilt. She was guilty anyway, wasn't she? So the law condemned
her. Huh? And all, beloved, the accusers
here were clamoring for her death. But what about that man who was
also taken there? If that was—if they took her
in there, there had to be a man present. I wonder what respect
he was. According to the law, they both
had to be put to death. Well, I've always felt—and I
don't say this to be facetious, but I always felt like he was
a member of their church, probably pretty high in standard, and
they were too embarrassed to bring him. They'd go deal with
him on a different level. That's my opinion of it. I thought
he was probably one of their deacons. But why in the world
would I really do that? I honestly feel like he's one
of theirs. And he wasn't. And that's why
they weren't interested in what he did as after our minister.
And why were they so anxious to get the Lord to condemn her
and wasn't concerned for her companion in sin? Well, there
are several reasons, but let me give you the greatest reason
why they wanted so much to condemn her and wasn't concerned for
the other one. Because man is guilty of prejudice. You know,
you hear people say all the time, I'm not prejudiced. Every one
of us is. There's never been a human being
that's born without it. We're prejudiced against lots
of things, but the reason—here's the thing we've got to understand.
If you've got a prejudice, have a reason for it. And you can
be prejudiced against a lot of things, but man, he has a guilty
of prejudice, he has a willful ignorance, and this completely
unpits him, not only from honoring and keeping God's law, but from
administering the law of God toward any other sinful man because
he don't have the right motive. Now, if he had the right motive,
he would have brought both of them. If he had been fit to do
it, he would have brought both of them. If he had been fit to
do it, he would have done it without bringing to the master.
If he was interested in the law. But oh, what a terrible, terrible
lot, the accusers under the law of the world. That's, that, you
don't care how much you're in the world, you do something that
even the world won't approve of, and they'll turn on you.
And the flesh will turn on you, the devil will turn on you, the
self-righteousness against you, the Pharisees against you, and
oh, what a terrible lot. Now that's the sinner under the
law, but now look at the sinner under grace. Look in John 1,
17. We just got to read it. I can quote it, and you can quote
it. We can all quote this verse of
Scripture, but we need to read it. That is a sinner under the
law. You can't deny it, she's a sinner.
You can't deny that the law has condemned her. Those are both
facts. What in the world is going to
happen to this poor old woman? Huh? Well, we have a sinner under
grace, for the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth
came by Jesus Christ. Grace to redeem man, truth to
reveal God. Now the law says, we're back
over in our text, the law says stoner. And they come to him
and says, but what do you say? What do you say, huh? The law
won't ask us to stoner, don't give us permission to stoner.
The law won't encourage us to stoner, the law commands us you
be stoned. But I want to know what you feel
about it. Have you ever had people come up to you and say, this
is where I live, but I want to know what you feel about something?
Well, that's what they're doing here with our master. Are you
going to obey the law? Are you going to obey the law?
We never heard you say that you didn't come to destroy it, but
to fulfill it. Are you going to obey it? And I was really
warned, and that whole bunch of you could have picked up a
stone and stoned that woman and been just in doing so, as the
Lord Jesus Himself. Huh? And if you let her go, then
we're going to say you're a lawbreaker. And if you don't let her go,
then all these people are going to turn against you. What are
you going to do, huh? What a contrast here. There's
the Lord. There is the Lord in all of His
white holiness. And there's the Son of God, thou,
the law in you. The law, Lord, and you, Lord,
huh? The law is holy, it's just, and
it's good. Well, wouldn't it be a wonderful
place to live if men kept the law? If men really kept the law,
we wouldn't need locks, we wouldn't need a police force. We wouldn't need any of that. We
wouldn't need insurance. But, oh, that's the loss while
the loss. Holy, just, and good, it says, condemner. But what
do you say? Can you say live when the loss has died? And how
our Master answers this question is of vital interest to me, and
I'm sure it is to you. How's he going to handle this
question? You see, let me give you four things about how that
he handles it, and why it's of interest to us. First of all,
it in some measure reveals his own character. Not completely,
but in some measure reveals our Lord's own character. Secondly,
it reveals his attitude towards the law, what our Master thinks
of the law and how he reacts himself to the law. Thirdly,
it shows his attitude and his reaction to these accusers of
this woman. And fourthly, it shows his reaction
and his attitude toward this miserable, guilty, condemned,
unjustly condemned, and embarrassed sinner. Huh? So, whoa, how's
he going to answer it? First of all, we're confronted
with a mystery. Look what a mystery there in
verse 6. They brought this woman, said,
Lord of Moses command us to what do you say? And this they said,
tempting him that they might have to accuse him, but Jesus
stooped down. Huh? He didn't even answer them. And it says there, stooped down
with his finger up on the ground as though he heard them not. Why, from history, why in the
world didn't he say something? Instead of saying something,
they're all gathering around, and you know how many people
there was there. You could have heard a pin drop. I mean, you
could have heard people breathing. Because here they are, you know,
a mattress woman taking a doctor. People gathering all around.
Huh? And he didn't say anything. Didn't
say nothing. He sat down, and so it just gets
up, and he stoops down, and he starts writing, and he acts like
he never heard a word he said. Huh? And he didn't say anything, but
he did something. And with his finger, he wrote
on the ground, and, Beloved, the Lord, no doubt, began to
write to me. Now, there's two times he wrote
here, and there's only 2,000, 3,000 scriptures you have God
writing with his finger. And this is God writing here. The
first time He wrote, He wrote the law on stones. Second time
He wrote, He wrote the law on stones. And so when our Savior
stooped down here, our Master stooped down, I personally believe
that He wrote, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all your
heart, mind, body, soul, and spirit. That's what I believe
He wrote. I believe that that was the law right in front of
Him. That that's what He wrote. Huh? So there's a mystery. He didn't say nothing. If it
had been me or you, we'd have started on what John Gill said
and Charles Ferguson said, and Sartre said. We'd have started
trying to explain to them where we stood. We'd have started to
explain to them. But our Lord, He is wisdom personified,
very splendid. He didn't say nothing. He just
scooped down and began to write on the desk. What kind of a man
is He that He's just ignoring us? Huh? And, oh, you'd think that'd shut
somebody up, but what's there in verse 7? So when they continued
asking him, they wouldn't stop. They was not going to let this
go. They wasn't going to let it go. So they just continued
asking, and he lifted up himself. And he said unto them, huh? See, they just continued asking
him. Huh? They thought, we've got him.
This is what they think. You know, when you understand
human nature, they thought, now we've got him, we've embarrassed
him. But our Lord knows the Scriptures, and He, you know, He has the
Scriptures, and He said, don't you answer a fool according to
his folly. And that's what He's doing. He's not answering a fool
according to his folly. And then there's the other verse of Scripture
that says, answer a fool according to his folly, and he does both
right here in front of us. First, he don't answer him according
to a fool according to his folly, and secondly, when he does answer
him, he answers the fool according to his folly. Huh? He turned,
he turned, he lifted himself up, and he looked around and
he said, he that's without sin. That's why, that's why I believe
he wrote the law. That's why I believe he wrote
Love God. He said, He that's without sin. Huh? He turned that law that they
can and so to pretend to honor and magnify, He turned it on
them. And that's what it is. It's like a mirror, you know.
The Word of God's like a mirror, and we don't look at—the reason
mirrors are made for is for us to find out what's wrong with
us, not for us to stand in front of them and admire ourselves.
They're made for us to wash our faces by. And to call my herbie
and make sure our clothes look right. And then get out in front
of him and go all the time on by. You see people walking down
the street and they just look at themselves all the time. That's awful. That's the way
these Pharisees work. But he lifted up his chair and
he said, He that's without sin, he took the white line of God's
law and he turned it on thee. You see, they had no right to
accuse anybody. They had no right to condemn
anybody. They were sinners themselves,
and only one who was truly holy can administer the law. And there
wasn't any of them that way. You see, they saw the ugly mode
of uncleanness in this woman's eyes, but they didn't see that
beam of hypocrisy, that beam of envy, that beam of pride,
that beam of malice. That's such malice in these men
as they come to our master. They didn't see that in their
own home. You see, it's so easy to see somebody else sin, but
our Lord was with us in our sin. He said, He, that's without sin. He done put this woman aside. He said, if you're without sin,
don't worry about her, worry about you. Let's don't deal with him next
door neighbor. Let's deal with you, our master
said. He left without sin. You without sin? You without
sin? Are you without sin? Are you
without sin? I'm the chief priest. I don't
care about that old Lord. Are you without sin? Huh? Wrong, you see. It's not somebody
else's sin that our Lord deals with. It's our sin that He deals
with. Huh? And whose sin was greater
here, you reckon? Theirs or hers? People think
that the only way in the world you can be a sinner is if they
can see you do something. Sins aren't something you do
with the hand. But I'm telling you, it's the sin that nobody
can see is where God's looking at. We're just as transparent
as glass, and their sins were sins of the heart. Hers were
sins of the flesh, but theirs were sins of the heart. Which
is worse, to commit their awful sin. Their sin's awful, and it's
in its very nature. But oh, here's taking an act
of abduction, but boy, they was—they had such malice and envy and
pride. And God didn't say nothing about
how He hated abductors, but He did say that, and you know He
does. But He said that He hated the haste of power and luck.
Huh? And our Lord came to deal with
sin, S-I-N, sin of the heart. The nature is God's season. You
see, now, see if I can say this right. I want to say this right.
It's not so much what a man does, but it's why he does it. Now, when in the world does a
man become a sinner? Did I become a sinner and I stole
a watermelon when I was six years old or five years old? To show
you how stupid I am, I stole a little apple one time. I lived
in Winchester, Kentucky. Dead snow on the ground, and
I was walking by a little old country market, and there was
apples in baskets. Bushel baskets sittin' inside,
right inside the door, glass front door, and I opened the
door, wrecked in there, got me an apple, took off runnin', and
nothin' didn't have any problem followin' me. It was the snow,
you know, they could punch it, you know, they just dragged me
around down through there, and they actually chased me and run
me down for an apple. Oh, I got a-beaten, and shoulda
got a-beaten, but I said all that to say this, that I still,
that when I stole that apple, that's what made me a sinner.
Say, what made me a thief? Or did I steal that apple because
I was a thief? Huh? And, oh, beloved, so that's
what I'm saying, that our Lord came to deal with this thing
called the nature of sin. And what a man does will change
when the who the man is has changed. And we can't change who the man
is Only God can do that. And when He makes the tree good,
then the fruit's good. And until He makes the tree good,
there ain't gonna be no good fruit. Huh? And all the love
of it. And He changes, and I'll tell
you something, boy, when He changes, He's changed good. Then look
what a glorious picture. There's this revelation. He that's
without sin. Now the first time He stooped
down, it says there Jesus stooped down in verse 6, and He rode
with His finger on the ground. They continued asking, and it
says there in verse, he said, He that's without sin let him
first cast a stone. And again, he stooped down and
wrote on the ground. Now, I think when he stooped
down the second time, he wrote down, Love your neighbor as yourself. That's what I personally believe.
That's what I, that's what, in fact, that's why I'm preaching
it tonight. And he stooped down and wrote
on the ground, but look here what a glorious picture. That first
stooping is typical of pictures of our Lord Jesus Christ leaving
glory and coming down to this earth. And when He came down
the first time, He faced a law that was broken. And so he came
down in his incarnation, and he had to stoop down. God has
to humble himself from all the things in heaven, and our Lord
humbled himself and becomes so identified with us. And he came
under that law. He came under, made of a woman,
made under the law. And he stooped down under that
law that said, Love God with all your heart, never remember
the human race and broken. And he stooped down to face that
holy law. And so, beloved, as he walked
among this earth, he could say, which of you convinces me of
sin, he obeyed that law, and he kept that law. And then the
second time when he stooped down, and he came in love, and he came
in grace, and he came in mercy on purpose to satisfy them to
obey God's law. But the second stooping down,
The second stooping is when he went under, when he went down
to the cross, and he went down to the dead, when he went down
to thy sin upon him for breaking the law. That second stooping
is when he comes down to thine forest, don't you see? He became
obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. There's that
law that had been broken, and there's that law that has to
be honored. There's that law that has to
be magnified. There's that law that has to
be obeyed. And yet, beloved, not only must you obey it, but
you've got to suffer when you don't. And he not only obeyed
his priesthood, but he suffered his penalty for it. Huh? And oh, he's stooped down and
he goes to the cross, to the grave, and there he takes our
sins with him. You see, the first table of the
law was broken by Moses, but the second table of the law,
when they were written, they were put in the ark. And our Lord's the ark, that's
where they're kept, and our Lord's the mercy seat, and He's our
mercy seat, our propitiation, and we're under Him, and then
the blood's on top of that, and He's the blood. It's His blood
that's the propitiation, and so, you see, He comes down to—'cause
He kept the Lord, He obeyed the Lord, He stooped down with our
sins upon Him so that we would be free from this condemnation
and guilt. And then, lookie here, there's
another thing about this. Oh, what a glory. Our Lord stooped
down. Oh, how—you know the awful humiliation
that our Lord faced? was to become a man. That's the awful humiliation,
what a stooping down. And had he not become a man,
he could have never died. He could have never been made
to be sin, but as a man he is made to be sin in our room instead. And then here, look at conviction.
And then verse 9, Now, he ain't said nothing when
he stooped down again the second time. He ain't said another word.
He just turned the law on them, you without seeing picking up
a rotten stoner. If you're without it, just get
your stoner, start throwing it. And they which heard it being
convicted. Being convicted. Huh? Now, this is not Holy Spirit
conviction. No, no, this is not Holy Spirit conviction, because
they all left Christ. Instead of being convicted by
their own conscience. Not Holy Spirit conviction at
all. And instead of standing as accusers, they find themselves
accused. Instead of judging, they find
themselves judged. You see, they went out, and it
says here, and they went out one by one. Can you just imagine? You just watch that crowd. They're
all standing around there, and I wonder just, I wonder just
how uncomfortable it got. I believe our Lord stayed stooped
on the ground until the first one made a move. You know how uncomfortable, you
know, have you ever been around when the silence got real, real uncomfortable? I do that sometimes at home when
I'm preaching. I'll just get quiet until everybody gets real,
real uncomfortable, and you get their attention. You can go get
folks' attention. Just get quiet and just stand
there at them. Huh? Get your attention running.
That's what our Master did. Didn't say nothing. And they
started going out. They just got so uncomfortably
quiet. Everybody's waiting to see what's
going to happen. Is somebody going to pick up
a rock? What are they going to do? And here he is, he's riding
on the ground. And they were convicted by their
conscience, and I see the oldest in there, probably an old white-haired
man, standing there, and he starts, conscience starts to bother him,
he just started backing up. He turned around and started
somebody's game. He said, I believe I'll go with
you. The way they went, they started
out one by one by one, started out at the oldest. They wanted to deal with her
sins, but they sure don't want those dealt with. They came to make a fool out
of the Lord Jesus Christ, and he made fools out of them. Show
what fools they really were. But then all of confidence. Look
at verse 9 again. And it says in the last part
of the verse, And Jesus was left alone. Everybody, even those
he was preaching to before they all come crowding around there,
and Jesus was left alone. And the woman And the woman standing
in the middle. Now why in the world don't you
expect that woman left too? She had an opportunity to leave.
She could have slipped away from there. Huh? And all the commotion
and all the condemnation left, she could have just eased out
of there too. She could have said, I see me a chance to get
out of here. I see me a chance to get going. Huh? But she didn't. And, O Beloved, I or our Lord
was left alone in the woman. Now the law can show you your
sin. Here we see just exactly what the law is made for, to
bring men to Christ, to show them their sin, to pronounce
them guilty, show them their condemnation, and leave them
alone with the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's exactly what happened
here. Huh? And, O Beloved, the law can show you your sin. And
people ask all the time, what do you feel about a believer's
relationship to the law? Guilty. Condemned. In and of myself. Don't you believe
it's a rule of life? No. But at the same time, I also
believe I've kept it. Not only am I innocent in the
sense that I haven't broken in laws, but I am righteous in the
sense in Christ that I have kept every single one of them. I've
obeyed them, and I obey them every day in Christ. Huh? But, oh, beloved, the law can't
do nothing but show you your sin. But, boy, if it brings you
to where you're alone with Christ, He can deal with them. Huh? What
a wonderful place and what a wonderful position to be in, to be left
alone with nobody but you and the Master. And you know the reason she couldn't
leave? You know why she couldn't leave?
No more than you can leave. I remember when I first started
praying, I was so ashamed to pray. I remember, I'll tell you
all this and I'll wind it up. I was ashamed to pray. I was
such an awful, wicked man. I was horrible. I just can't
describe to you what an awful wretch I was. And I began to
get under conviction. I bought a Bible and tried to
read the Bible. And the more I read it, the meaner I got.
I got the sermon on the mouth. I bought me a Bible and went
a long way to find one. Drove way out on this place to
find it. Didn't know where we could buy one. And found a place
that said Christian Bookstore. And I said, they got Bibles.
And I went in there and bought a Bible. And I started reading in the
Sermon on the Mount, and the more I read it, the guiltier I got
and the meaner I got. But I remember when I started
praying, I said, Lord, I'm ashamed to
come. I'm embarrassed to come. I'm so filthy. I'm so wretched.
I've got no business here even calling on your name. I'm just a dog. I'm a filthy,
wretched, miserable dog. My sins was before me, and they
stunk. It was horrible. I saw them.
But I couldn't do anything else but keep coming. And as you know, this woman felt
that way. She's taken the bread. I couldn't do anything else.
The doctors, I was in a mental hospital. They couldn't help
me with my condition. I was taking every kind of pill
they'd give me, and that didn't help me. I went to witches, I
went to psychiatrists, I went to preachers, I went to bought
a Bible, and none of those things helped me. But when I went to the Lord, and I couldn't go anyplace, didn't
want to go anyplace else, didn't want to, and I stayed right there. I just left off the Bible, I
left off the preachers, I left off the church, and I left off
the psychiatrist, and I left off the medicine, I left off
those counselors, and I just said, Lord, would you just please have mercy
on me, just me and him. It wasn't me and him and Mary,
it was just me and him. It wasn't me and him and Doogie,
my son, just me and him. Wasn't me and him and a bunch
of folks around in a prayer meeting trying to pray through. It was
just me and him. And oh, what a wonderful place to be. What
a wonderful place to be. Huh? And didn't look what a confession
there in verse 10. And when Jesus had lifted up
himself. Now they're on resurrection ground
now. That tome that's been made. Don't you reckon that's right?
So he stooped down the second time, and he's rising again. He's done went to the tomb, typical
of going to the tomb, bearing away the sin, satisfying God,
fulfilling the law in her room instead. He's on resurrection
ground now. Atonement's been made. And he lifted up himself. Oh,
and that son of... And boy, I tell you what, he
raised himself from the dead. And he saw none but the woman.
He said unto her, Woman? He didn't call her name, just
Woman. And you know he knows her name.
That's why he said the woman at the well. Woman? Oh, it don't make no difference
what her name is, as long as he knows it. That's all that
counts. It don't care if we know, if you know, if they know, if
I know your name or you know mine, as long as he knows our
name, that's all that counts. Woman? Where are those other
accusers? I'm telling you, who's condemning
you? Who's condemning you? Who are you accusing right now? Who they are? I'm telling you, I don't know.
She probably never even lifted up her head until he stood up
and asked her. She looked around. She said, there's nothing here. Have any man condemned you now? Where's the man out there that
condemned you? And oh, you'll always find somebody condemning
you. Even your own conscience will condemn you. Oh, you see,
it comes down to this. It was just me and the Lord,
and you and the Lord. And no matter what anybody else
accuses you of and condemns you of, If you're left alone with
Christ, He said, where's those that condemn you now? Because
He's the one we have to deal with over sin. He has to deal
with it. And she said, no man. And look up there, it says, that
word Lord's in a capital letter. What she's saying is, she said,
no man Jehovah. That's what she's saying. No
man Jehovah. She understood in her heart and
heart that this is God standing here. Huh? No man, Lord. Huh? Oh, but our Master said,
but yet I've got to deal with you. And oh, truly the Lord Jesus
is the friend of sinners, and He has to deal with her. And
then He said unto her in verse 11, she said, No man, Lord. No
man, Lord. And oh, my, when I tell you what, He said, neither do I. Neither do I. Neither do I. Look in, look in Romans 8. Neither
do I. And boy, oh boy, that don't make
a whole lot of difference to me. I learned years ago it don't
make a whole lot of difference what people think about you and
what they say about you. I don't know how many times And
women, women, they mean well. You know, we'll come to somebody
else's defense before we'll ever come to our own. When somebody's
condemning somebody that we know, we come to their defense just
that quick, much quicker than we will our own. And it don't
make you the people who say what they want to about you. But boy,
if you ever hear the Lord say, neither do I condemn thee, it
never matters to you much anymore what anybody else thinks, says,
or does. Because you know, you say, we
will just leave this thing in the Lord's hand, and it's all
going to come out clean one of these days, come out just the
way it's supposed to. And look at that in Romans 8,
33. You see, I said, you know, he
said, neither do I condemn thee. And it was, he said this after
he lifted himself up, after atonement's been made. After the law has
been honored, satisfaction has been made. In verse thirty-three,
who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? Huh? Who? That's what I said. Where are those that are accused? Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? Is it the law? Can an angel? We own heart. It's God that justifies. And watch this. Who is he that
what? Condemns. It's Christ that died,
yea rather is risen again, who even sits at the right hand of
God and makes intercession for us, John. Everything's all right. Everything's all right. That's
why even when the devil comes and starts accusing me, I'm like,
well, just get behind me. You can't even accuse me. You
can't condemn me. Cause my Savior, I don't have,
well you've got this sin, my sin. No, I don't. No, I don't. Uh-uh. And that's
what our Lord said, neither do I condemn thee. Go and sin no
more. What in the world, you reckon
that woman never sinned again? What did he mean, he said, go
and sin no more? Huh? Well, what he's saying is, you
go and you live to my glory. You live to my honor. You follow
me." That's what he said in the next verse. I'm the light of
the world. You follow me and you won't walk
in that darkness anymore. What he's saying is sin won't
be your master anymore. Sin is not going to have dominion
over you anymore. Where sin once abounded, grace
is going to abound now. Where sin was once your master,
I'm your master now. And you go and you live to my
glory. your new creature in Christ, and the very same love that kept
her standing there in the presence of the Lord will be the same
love that will constrain her to live to his glory for the
rest of her days. You know good and well she's
like us. She's done a lot of things that
she wished she hadn't done, said a lot of things she wished she
hadn't said, but I guarantee you she never was condemned again,
because our Lord said, And when Master says, I'm not going to
condemn you, that's enough. Father, we bless you. Oh, bless
your glorious name. How wondrous you are. How gracious
you are. How kind, how pitiful, how loving
you are. O God, that you'd condescend
to bless us and instruct us and teach us and let us have your
presence and show us such grace. O Lord, keep us day in and day
out. Keep us, Lord, when our thoughts and our hearts
and our feelings and our emotions and so many other places, and
yet, Lord, you still love us and keep us. And you allow us
to meet with the saints of God, to be numbered among the living,
to worship you, to call on your name. Oh, God, you're so gracious.
Oh, you're so good in your blessed Son. Lord Jesus, thank you. Oh, blessed be you, Lord, for
taking away the guilt, taking away the condemnation, taking
away that awful burden of sin. Oh, we bless you for doing that.
No, Lord, do work in our hearts to love you more, to honor you
more, to live to your glory. And bless
this congregation and this dear preacher and his family, the
church family here. Continue to save your sheep here.
We pray for those who come and visit that you'd cause the gospel
to run well here and cause it to bring forth fruit to your
glory, cause the church to grow and to prosper. O Lord, let this be a garden
that you've planted, and water it, and send the rain and the
sun. O God, we just bless you and praise
you and thank you. Lord, for you alone we're worthy
to be praised. Amen. Amen. Can we sing number
318? Can we sing that? Would you lead us in that, Brother
Paul? Thank y'all so much for letting me come, being with y'all.
I've enjoyed it so much. Come see me when you can. I hope
to be any of you anytime. I need Thee every hour, all the
day and the night. Oh, where could I ever be but Thine? I need Thee, oh, I need Thee. of my neighbor, my God of beauty.
I need Thee every hour, O Holy One. O make me like Thee, Thou I give you what you need. Every
hour you need. So let me now I pray. I come to thee. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you.