Good morning. Let's all stand
together. We'll sing hymn number 452. 452. On that third verse
we'll say, In Wonder. 452. I stand amazed in the presence
of Jesus the Nazarene, and wonder how he could love me a How marvelous, how wonderful,
and my song shall ever be. How marvelous, how wonderful
is my Savior's love for me. For me it was in the garden He
prayed not my will but thine He had no tears for his own griefs How marvelous! How wonderful! Then thy song shall ever be! How marvelous! How wonderful! This my Savior's love for me! In wonder In wonder, angels,
we hailed Him And came from the world of nigh To comfort Him
in the sorrow He poured for my soul that night How marvelous,
how wonderful, And my song shall ever be! How marvelous, how wonderful,
Is my Savior's love for me! He took my sin and my sorrows,
He made them His very own. He bore the burden to Calvary,
Then suffered and died. How marvelous! How wonderful! And my song shall ever be! How marvelous! How wonderful! Is my Savior's love for me! When with the ransomed in glory
His face thy blest shall see, It will be my joy through the
ages To sing of His love for me. They stated we'll sing hymn number
255. 255 Blessed assurance Jesus is born of salvation Born of His Spirit, washed in
His blood. This is my story. This is my song. Praising the Savior all the day. Praising my Saviour all the day
long. Perfect submission Perfect delight
Visions of rapture Now burst on my sight Angels descending
? Ring from above ? Echoes of mercy
? Whispers of love ? This is my story This is my song, praise Him and
sing. I see. ? All is at rest ? ? I and my Savior
? ? Am happy and blessed ? ? Watching and waiting ? this is my song This is my story. This is my song. If you have your Bibles with
you this morning, I'd like you to open with me to the book of
Mark. I'd like to read Portion of Mark
chapter 8. Mark chapter 8. Beginning in verse one, in those
days, the multitude being very great and having nothing to eat,
Jesus called his disciples unto him and saith unto them, I have
compassion on the multitude because they have now been with me three
days and have nothing to eat. And if I send them away fasting
to their own houses, they will faint by the way, for divers
of them came from far. And his disciples answered him,
from whence can a man satisfy these men with bread here in
the wilderness? And he asked them, how many loaves
have you? And he said, seven. And he commanded
the people to sit down on the ground. And he took the seven
loaves, and gave thanks, and break, and gave to his disciples
to set before them. And they did set them before
the people. And they had a few small fishes,
and he blessed and commanded to set them also before them.
So they did eat and were filled. And they took up of the broken
meat that was left seven baskets. And they that had eaten were
about 4,000. And he sent them away. And straightway he entered
into a ship with his disciples and came into the parts of Dalmanutha. And the Pharisees came forth
and began to question with him, seeking of him a sign from heaven,
tempting him. And he sighed deeply in his spirit,
and saith, Why doth this generation seek after a sign? Verily I say
unto you, there shall no sign be given unto this generation.
And he left them, and entering into the ship again, departed
to the other side. Now the disciples had forgotten
to take bread, neither had they had in the ship with them more
than one loaf. And he charged them, saying,
Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the leaven
of Herod. And they reasoned among themselves,
saying, It is because we have no bread. And when Jesus knew
it, he saith unto them, Why reason ye because ye have no bread?
Perceive ye not, yet neither understand? Have ye your heart
yet hardened? Having eyes, see ye not? And
having ears, hear ye not? And do ye not remember, when
I break the five loaves among 5,000, how many baskets full
of fragments took ye up? They say unto him, 12. And when
the seven among 4,000, how many baskets full of fragments took
ye up? And they said, seven. And he said unto them, how is
it that ye do not understand And he cometh to Bethsaida, and
they bring a blind man unto him, and besought him to touch him.
And he took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of
the town. And when he had spit on his eyes,
and put his hands upon him, he asked him if he saw aught. And
he looked up and said, I see men as trees walking. After that,
he put his hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up, and
he was restored, and saw every man clearly. And he sent him
away to his house, saying, Neither go into the town, nor tell it
to any in the town. And Jesus went out and his disciples
into the towns of Caesarea Philippi. And by the way he asked his disciples,
saying unto them, Whom do men say that I am? And they answered,
John the Baptist, but some Elias, and others one of the prophets.
And he saith unto them, but whom say ye that I am? And Peter answereth and saith
unto him, thou art the Christ. I'll stop there. Our high and heavenly Father,
Lord God Almighty, we come to your presence through your blessed
Son, Lord Jesus Christ, Lord, we thank you for this word,
for whom it speaks of, for the promises it holds. Lord, for everything that you
teach us through it. Lord, you've revealed unto us
that thou art the Christ. It's our honest and earnest and humble
hope here today, Lord, that we may bow before you and worship
you in spirit and in truth. Lord, we thank you for this ability
to gather here and for the privilege to meet freely. We thank you
for this building we're gathered in, that you give us means to
be here, that you give us the desire to be here. Lord, we thank you for everything
that you provide to us. And most especially, thank you
for your mercy and your grace and your sovereignty and your
righteousness. Lord, we ask that you would send
your Holy Spirit this morning to be among us. Pray that you
would give Brother Cody, as he stands here, the ability to preach
to us. Give him the the words to speak
to us. Lord, cause it to bless our hearts
and that you would bless him as he speaks. Let him speak freely. Lord, we ask that you would allow
us to concentrate on you, to magnify
your holy name. Cause us to forget the things
of this world for a little while. the troubles of this earth, troubles
of this flesh. Lord, let us not meet in vain.
Pray for those who are weak and weary among us and those who
are unable to be here. Lord, we trust thy will be done
for Christ's sake. We pray that it is. In his name
we pray, amen. We'll stand together as we sing
the hymn of the day in the Bulletin. The Savior died, and by His blood
God rebelled sinners near to God. He died to set the captive
free. and say my soul why not worthy
and say my soul why not worthy the blood of Christ shall sweet
itself The streams thereof are full
and free, And why, my soul, why not for you? And sing of grace so rich and
free And say, my soul, why not for Thee? And say, my soul, why
not for Thee? Our Savior came, the Lord to
bless To clothe Him with His righteousness And sing of grace so rich and
free And say, my soul, why not for Thee? And say, my soul, why
not for Thee? Be seated. How deep the Father's love for
us, how vast beyond all measure, that He should give His only
Son to make a wretch ? How great the pain of searing
wars ? ? The father turns his face away ? ? As wounds which
mar the chosen one ? ? Bring many sons to glory ? Behold the man upon a cross,
my sin upon his shoulders. Ashamed, I hear my mocking voice
call out among us, It was my sin that held him there
until it was accomplished. His dying breath has brought
me life. I know that it is finished. I will not boast in anything,
no gifts, no power, no wisdom. But I will boast in Jesus Christ,
his death and resurrection. Why should I gain from His reward? I cannot give an answer. But this I know with all my heart,
His will Why should I gain from his reward? I cannot give an answer. But this I know with all my heart,
his word. We're pleased to have Brother
Cody Henson with us again this morning. I think everybody knows him.
If there's anybody out there, he's a dear brother and a dear
friend and family in more ways than one. You come on, preach
to us, brother. Red button when you're ready. Good morning. It's good to be
with you, and thank you, ladies, for singing that song that blessed
my heart so much. Pastor Gabe Stoniker and the
Brethren in Kingsport send their love and greetings. I also talked
to Kevin Thacker yesterday, and he also sends his love and greetings
from San Diego. I invite your attention this
morning to Ecclesiastes chapter 3. Ecclesiastes chapter 3, it's
after Psalms and Proverbs. Ecclesiastes 3, look with me
at verse 1. To everything there is a season
and a time to every purpose under the heaven. What a precious word
of comfort and assurance from our God. What happens every day
that we live here on this earth? God's counsel. And his good pleasure. That's it. Nothing else, that's
it. To everything there is a season
and a time to every purpose under the heaven. A time to be born. And a time to die. Our time of
birth and our time of death were appointed by God. And if you
or I. are going to be born again spiritually,
God the Holy Spirit must move upon us, quicken us, and give
us life. It's the only way it's going
to happen. And if we're His, the appointed time is coming. He'll see to it. Verse 2 says,
a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a
time to pluck up. that which is planted. God plants
the gospel in his people, the preaching of the gospel. He plants
that in his people, and he plants his people in the gospel. He
plants his people in the Lord Jesus Christ, again, at his appointed
time, and then he will also pluck us out. We're here right now,
but he will see to it that we're plucked out to go be with him
at the appointed time. Verse three says, a time to kill,
and a time to heal. God alone kills and makes alive. He wounds and he heals. The Lord
Jesus Christ, it says, holds the keys to hell and death. Now, if we are going to be saved,
God will slay us. He will kill us. And in doing
so, he will cause us to trust him. He will kill us and cause
us to trust him. And I thought of this verse,
Galatians 2.20. Paul said, I am crucified with Christ dead. Nevertheless,
I live. How? Only in Christ. God will
kill us and then make us alive in him. Heal us in him. Verse
three goes on to say, a time to break down and a time to build
up. God breaks down and then he builds
up. He'll tear us down in this flesh
and he'll build us up in Christ. I thought of something our Lord
said. He said, destroy this temple, speaking of himself and all his
people in him. Destroy this temple and in three
days I'll raise it up. Destroy me and in three days
I'll build it back up. Verse four says, a time to weep
and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance. There's a time to weep and mourn
over our sin. Again, if God has mercy on us,
that appointed time is coming when we will first, we never
had before, we will first mourn over our sin. Pray God might
enable us to, cause us to. But not only that, praise God,
there's also a time, it says, to laugh. Laugh and dance in
what? In our Savior's triumph over
our sin. We mourn over it. O wretched
man that I am, who shall deliver me? Thank God through Jesus Christ
our Lord. He shall deliver us. He has delivered
us. He is delivering us. He's gonna
deliver us. May we rejoice and be glad in Him. Now, for our
message this morning, I'd like to consider the first half of
verse five. If you'll read it with me, it says, there's a time
to cast away stones and a time to gather stones together. There's a time to cast away stones,
and here's what that means. It means to cast stones, to throw,
to fling stones. Now in the scriptures, stones
are often associated with death and or judgment. I saw in Joshua
chapter 10, it says that the Lord cast down great stones,
great hail stones from heaven, and by that he killed many people.
He sent many people to the judgment via stones. You remember Goliath,
that mighty Philistine man. When his time of death and judgment
was come, the Lord used a stone through David to kill him. I
also thought of a dear brother, Stephen, a faithful man and servant
of God. Now, the stones by which he was
physically killed, they did not send him to judgment. No, that
was simply his appointed time and God's appointed means by
which he sent his servant to be home with him. Nonetheless, there is a time
to cast stones. The passage I thought of that
goes so well with this, you're probably familiar with it, John
chapter eight, if you'll turn there with me. John chapter eight. And you can
keep a bookmark here, we're gonna come back to John eight a couple
times. And also I pray that we'll see
more than just physically throwing stones. I pray the Lord might
show us what this means. John 8, look at verse 1. Jesus went unto 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. And the scribes and Pharisees
brought unto him a woman taken in adultery. And when they had
set her in the midst, they say unto him, Master, this woman
was taken in adultery in the very act. Now Moses and the law
commanded us that such should be stoned. But what sayest thou?"
These religious leaders, these scribes and Pharisees, first
I want to point out they had no interest in being taught of
the Lord. You see that how it says, all
the people? I imagine it was a great multitude
of people. They got up early, first thing in the morning, kind
of like the Lord's allowed us to do today. And they went to
our Lord to hear him, to be taught of him. But not these Pharisees. They had something far more important
to do. They had to go exercise their
pretentious authority. They were leaders. putting themselves
in the place of God and went and found a sinner, exercising
their self-righteousness, their ignorance. That's what they put
on display here is their utter ignorance of God and all things
pertaining to him. They found this woman, this guilty
sinner, caught her in the very act, and you imagine how humiliating.
And then they bring her here before the Lord, they interrupt
the beautiful worship service, to put on this nonsense. Now,
concerning this woman, they mentioned the law and how it pertained
to the matter. The law says she should be stoned,
but what are you saying? I'll go ahead and point out their
intentions were nothing but pure evil. I heard someone else recently
mention, well, why didn't they bring the man that was also in
the act, right? Takes two. And I love what this
brother said. He said, maybe it was one of
their own. Wouldn't doubt it. Anyway, these men, they had no
right. This was not their place to be doing such a thing. And
likewise, it's not our business to go find a sinner. If we're
going to find a sinner, may we look within and only within. There is a time, however, for
sin to be exposed, but that's God's business and His alone.
God's doing. We're about to see that. These
men were right concerning the law and how sin must be punished. The only problem is they were
ignorant of their own. I want to show you something.
We're going to come back here. Go to 1 Corinthians chapter 6.
1 Corinthians 6. This is something we all need
to see, 1 Corinthians 6 verse 9. Remember this is the word of
God, whatever it says is sure, it shall stand, it's not going
to change. 1 Corinthians 6 verse 9 says, Know ye not that the
unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived,
neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate,
nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous,
nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners shall inherit
the kingdom of God. Let's stop right here. Are we
any of these things? Anybody? Are we not all of these
things, honestly? Now, I want to focus on adultery
because that pertains to our text here. Do we know what adultery
really is? Really? Turn to Matthew chapter
5. Now I'll ask you before we read
these two verses, please don't answer, has anybody here committed
adultery? Perhaps after reading these two
verses our answer may change. Matthew 5 verse 27. Ye have heard that it was said
by them of old time, thou shalt not commit adultery. But I say unto you, and this
is God speaking, I say unto you that whosoever looketh on a woman
to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in
his heart. Has anybody here committed adultery?
And it's not just men that are guilty of that. God forbid we
boast of not having committed adultery, seeing that it is something
that takes place in our heart. Don't have to do it outwardly
to already be guilty inwardly. These scribes and Pharisees may
have been outwardly clean, moral, and upright people, but inside
we're told they're full of corruption, dead men's bones. It's because
we're all dead in sin. They had wicked and deceitful
hearts, And God knew it. Right here when these men brought
this woman before our Lord, He knew exactly what they were.
He knew them that they had not the love of God in them. They just didn't know it. Oh,
they thought they had it. They thought they had it all.
Turn back there, John 8, verse 5 again. Now Moses, in the law, commanded
us that such should be stoned, but what sayest thou? And I'll
go ahead and tell you this, they were determined to find fault
with him no matter what his reaction was. All right? Verse six goes
on to tell us, This they said, tempting him, that they might
have to accuse him. But, and I love this, Jesus stooped
down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard
him not, So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself
and said unto them, he that is without sin among you, let him
first cast a stone at her. And again he stooped down and
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 unto the last, And Jesus was left alone and
the woman standing in the midst. What happened? Oh, is this not
glorious? There's been so much speculation
as to what our Lord wrote on the ground. Let's not worry about
that. I don't know what he wrote on the ground. It could have
been anything. Look at what he said. You that is without sin. Go ahead. If any of you are worthy
to be the judge and cast the judgment towards another sinner,
you go right ahead. And none of them did. You know
why? Because there's only one worthy
to proclaim judgment on another. There's only one worthy to punish
sin. There's only one who's not guilty
of committing all these sins, and that's our Lord. He's the
judge, the only judge. Who are we to judge one another?
All judgment's been committed unto the Son, all of it. He alone has the right to cast
stones, right now and right there. He's the only one. Now, did He remove these men? He removed them. Did he remove
these men from the equation? And it says the Lord was alone
with this woman, so also all the people that were there before
hearing him. Did he get everybody else away so that he could deal
privately with this woman when he cast the stones at her? Is
that what he did? Look at 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? She said, and I imagine there were tears running
down her face when she said this. She said, no man, Lord. No man, Lord. And Jesus said
unto her, neither do I condemn thee. Go and sin no more. He didn't cast the stones at
her. I believe she knew I deserved
to have the stones cast at me. And that's exactly what the Pharisees
wanted to happen. He did not cast the stones at
her, but I'll tell you who he did cast the stones at. He cast
the stones at those Pharisees. Not physically. No. He caused
them to know in their conscience that they had no right. No right
at all. Why did he not cast stones at
this woman? I'll tell you why. Because it
was time to gather stones together. That's why. God in His infinitely
good and wise purpose appointed this time, and this means this
exact event, everything that took place exactly the way it
did, told you everything. There's an appointed time and
purpose for everything that happens, and this was no different. It
was God's appointed time to deal graciously, kindly, mercifully
with this woman. Back in our text it says, there's
a time to cast away stones and a time to gather stones together. To gather stones together means
what it sounds like, to assemble, to collect, to gather stones
together. Now in the scriptures, God's
people are often referred to as stones. Peter, the Lord told
him thou shalt be called Cephas. meaning a stone. Our Lord himself
is the stone, the rock upon which God will build his church. It's
not Peter. It's Christ. Turn with me to 1 Peter 2. God's
people are stones. 1 Peter 2. 1 Peter 2 verse 1. Wherefore, laying aside all malice,
and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings,
as newborn babes desire the sincere milk of the word that ye may
grow thereby, if so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.
To whom coming? As unto a living stone, speaking
of Christ, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God and
precious. Now look at this. Ye also, as
lively stones. Now again, he's talking about
the newborn babes. Okay? Newborn babes in Christ.
Those who have tasted that the Lord is gracious. Those who have
experienced God's grace. Okay? He says in verse 5, Ye
also as lively stones are built up a spiritual house and holy
priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God
by Jesus Christ. God's people chosen in Christ
are lively stones. We're living stones built up
in Him. Go on, verse six. Wherefore also
it is contained in the scripture, behold, I lay in Zion a chief
cornerstone, elect, precious, and he that believeth on him
shall not be confounded. Unto you therefore which believe,
he is precious. But unto them which be disobedient,
means unbelieving, the stone which the builders disallowed,
the same is made the head of the corner, and a stone of stumbling,
and a rock of a fence, even to them which stumble at the word
being disobedient, whereunto also they were appointed." Now
this is just a fact concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. He is
either the precious rock of our salvation, the solid rock on
which we stand, or he is simply a rock of a fence, a stumbling
block. We either see Christ in the word
and see that it all declares him, the great hymn book, or
we do not see him. We do not see him to be all in
all, and therefore we do not see him at all. I pray Christ
is precious to you and me. We are either gonna fall on him
and be broken, there's a time to be broken, and we'll obtain mercy, or he
will fall on us and grind us to powder. And it seems to me, in John 8,
that poor woman fell on him. We know she obtained mercy. He
said, neither do I condemn. And it would appear that those
Pharisees and scribes were ground to powder. Makes me think of
Judas. Seems like he was convicted in
his conscious, didn't it, when he went out and hung himself?
Oh, may we fall on him. for mercy. Our Lord figuratively
cast the stones at those religious men, all while gathering that
sinful woman unto himself. And I tell you this concerning
that woman, she was built up in him. She was a lively stone.
She was a sinner, yes, but in Christ, a living stone, built
up in him, one with him. And I'll tell you this, when
the gospel is preached, every time the gospel is preached,
God casts the stones of judgment on some and gathers some to himself
in mercy. Every time the gospel is preached,
some believe the words which were spoken and some believe
not. His sheep hear his voice. He
knows them. They follow him. If we're not
his sheep, we're not going to hear his voice. We're not going
to follow him. Oh, may the Lord speak to us, enable us to hear
him. I want to look at those verses in John 8 once again,
the last two. John 8, verse 10. John 8, 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? She
said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither
do I condemn thee. Go, and sin no more. Neither do I condemn thee. He
who alone had the right to condemn her condemned her not. Those men condemned her, but God didn't. If God be for us, brethren, who
can be against us? Now when he saved her, she did not desire
to go out and sin that grace might abound. We're still sinners,
and we still need God's mercy now more than ever. That's all
it means, go and sin no more. We don't desire to go keep living
like that. But like Paul said in Romans
7, how to perform that which is good, I find not. He went
on, who shall deliver me? Lord, bring me back to you, cause
me to look to you, trust in you, have mercy on me, the sinner.
Now, how, this is a good question, okay? We need to ask this question.
How did our Lord not condemn her? God does not sweep sin under
the rug. How did he not condemn her? She
was guilty. And we don't have to wonder,
well, was she really guilty? Men went and found her. Was she
really guilty? She was caught in the very act. God told us
that. And we're told very plainly all
through the scriptures what we are and how God searches the
heart. He knows us, knows everything about us, knows us better than
we know ourselves. So how did he not condemn her? I thought
the judge of all the earth, and that's Christ, must do right.
I thought he must judge righteously. I thought the soul that sinneth
it shall die. I thought the wages of sin is death. I thought he
will by no means clear the guilty. Amen, amen, and amen. Then how could he say, neither
do I condemn thee? Turn back a few pages to John
chapter three. Look at verse 17, John 3, 17. For God sent not his Son into
the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him
might be saved. He came not to condemn, but to
save. Now understand this about condemnation.
We're all already condemned. All of us. Verse 18 goes on to
say, He that believeth on him is not condemned, but he that
believeth not is condemned already, because we've not believed on
the name of the Son of God. None of us believe on the name
of the Son of God. Not on our own accord. Face the
gift of God. If we're going to believe on
Him, He must give us faith to believe on Him. We're already
condemned, but Christ came to save. He came to seek and to
save. Our hope. is in that Christ came,
and in why he came. Did he come to save the whole
world? We know he did not. Again, we're told plainly, all
throughout the scriptures, he came for his sheep. I love this
verse, 1 Timothy 1.15, this is a faithful saying, worthy of
all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to
save sinners, not to make salvation possible for sinners, but to
save sinners. That's why He came, all right?
And look right here at verse 14, John 3, as Moses lifted up
the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be
lifted up, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but
have eternal life. He didn't come to save the whole
world. He came to save those who believe on Him. Whosoever
believeth on him, now who is going to believe on him? Those
whom he came to save. It was all according to God's
purpose and all at God's appointed time, His appointed means. We're
told in 2 Thessalonians 2.13, We're bound to give thanks, brethren,
to God for you always, because God hath from the beginning chosen
you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the
truth. He came to save those whom He chose to save, whom He
chose to, in time, give faith to believe on Him. That's whom
He came to save. Now, why did He do that? Why
did He do that? Verse 16, for God so loved the
world, and clearly it means His chosen people out of the world.
God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that
whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting
life. God is love. God in love chose
a people to save for his glory and for our eternal good. Chose
a people to not condemn. I love what the Lord told Jeremiah.
He said, I've loved you with an everlasting love. He didn't leave it up to us to
save ourselves. He said, therefore, because I have loved you forever
and I will love you forever with loving kindness, I've drawn you
to myself. gathered you, one of my stones,
to myself." That's exactly what he did right here in John chapter
8. Now, this vitally important question, how can God be just
and justify a sinner like me? How can he do it? I'll tell you
how he did it. We just read it. By being lifted
up in our place. You saw it in verse 14, didn't
you? As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must
the Son of Man be lifted up. Why did Christ die? He died to
take the stoning that all his people deserve. I looked up the
word stones in the scriptures. Stones of fire, stones of darkness,
stones of the pit. Our Lord took those stones upon
himself. He bore the fire of God's wrath.
He who is light and in him is no darkness at all took our darkness
upon himself. He went down to the pit so that
we could be delivered from it. Stones of fierce wrath and judgment
were cast on him in order that all his chosen people, like this
guilty, sinful woman, be gathered unto himself forever. That's
what he prayed in John 17, that all those the Father gave him
might be with him where he is. Do you see that? That's exactly
what he did, brothers and sisters. That's exactly what he did. That
was his purpose. That's his goodness. And it's
hearing of this very goodness that will lead a sinner like
you and me to repentance, to believe on him. Our God is a just God. Make no
mistake about it. He will punish all sin, but he's also a savior,
the only one. There's none else. Oh, praise
God. He is both just and the justifier
of him which believeth in the Lord Jesus Christ. Salvation
is all of the Lord. It's all of him. Praise God. There's a time to cast away stones
and a time to gather stones together. Amen. Let's have a word of prayer. Our gracious Heavenly Father,
we thank you so much for your holy word. We thank you for showing
us what these stones represent. judgment against sin, but oh,
mercy for sinners. I pray, I pray that you might
cause us to be mercy beggars right now. Cause us to fall down
on our face before you and cry out for mercy. Lord, give us
life. May it be our appointed time right now to believe on
you. Look away from self and trust Christ alone. I thank you
for all these dear brethren here. Lord, would your mercy abound
mightily towards us, towards all your people. We're very sinful
like this woman we just read about, and we need your mercy.
Lord, would you condemn us not for Christ's sake? Save us for
his sake, for his great, great namesake. Have mercy on us, Lord. Bless us, forgive us, and keep
us. We ask all this in Christ's precious
name. Amen. Thank you, brother. Let's all
stand together and we'll sing a few verses of 477. We'll sing the first, second,
and fourth verses. 477. Years I've spent in vanity and
pride, Caring not my Lord was crucified, Knowing not it was
for me He died. Alleluia! Mercy there was great, and grace
was free. God in heaven was magnified to
me. There my burdened soul found
liberty, ? By God's word, at last, my sin
I learned ? ? In a tree or at the lowline's fern ? ? Till my
guilty soul in glory turned ? ? To powdery ? ? Mercy there was great
? multiply to me. Bear my burden, scope, and liberty
at Calvary. Verse 4. Oh, the love that truths have Oh, the grace that brought it
down to man. Oh, the mighty goal that God
did spread at Calvary. Mercy there was great. We'll meet again this evening
at 6 p.m., Lord willing. You're dismissed.