Would you turn with me to Romans,
the eighth chapter. In North Carolina, in a mountain
chalet. Is that the way you say that?
I thought it was great. I've never done that before,
and I would recommend it. You don't have to drive as far
as you gotta go to the beach. It was only a six-hour drive,
and it was not hot, and what I thought was very interesting
about that place was everywhere you looked, there were Florida
license plates. It's where the people from Florida escape the
brutal heat. I thought that was kinda cool.
Romans chapter eight. I would like to read verse 34. Who is he that condemned? It is Christ. That died. Yay, rather, that is risen again. Who is even at the right hand
of God? who also maketh intercession
for us. Let's pray. Lord, we come into your presence
in Christ's name. And Lord, to think of his death. That he died and was raised. And what all that means. Lord, accept our thanksgiving.
We praise you for who you are. And we. Bow before your presence, your
greatness, your glory. How we thank you for the salvation
that's in your son. How we thank you for his beauty,
for the excellency and beauty and the justice and the perfection
of your gospel. Cause your gospel to be preached
in the power of your spirit. Enable us to hear with hearing
ears. Be with all your people wherever
they meet together. We pray for our friends that
are sick. We pray for your blessing upon
them. Bless us for Christ's sake, in his name we pray, amen. Why believers cannot be condemned. Now did you hear that? Why believers
cannot be condemned. The word condemn means to bring
a judgment against. like a judge condemning somebody,
bringing, sentencing them, and sending them to jail. That's
what condemnation means, to find and declare one to be guilty
and worthy of punishment. Now look what it says in verse
34, who is he that condemneth? Who is he that condemneth? Now, wait a minute. How is it that I cannot be condemned?
Now, why do I ask that question? Well, turn with me to 1 John,
chapter 1. 1 John, chapter 1, verse 8. If we say that we have no sin,
now sin's what brings on condemnation. If we say we have no sin, present
tense, we deceive ourselves. And the truth is not in us. Verse 10, if we say we have not
sinned, We make him a liar. And his word is not in us. No condemnation. No condemnation. Let's talk about the Ten Commandments
for a moment. The Ten Commandments. I love
God's law. God's holy The scripture says
sin is the transgression of the law. Now let's talk about God's
holy law, and I'm talking about today. I'm not talking about
sometime in the past. I'm talking about present tense.
The first commandment, thou shalt have no other gods before me. Every time I sin, I put something
before God. Isn't that so? Every time I sin,
I'm putting something before God. What about the commandment
against idolatry? How many times have I changed
God in my mind and made him a God I'm more comfortable with and
that I can vindicate myself by that? What about the commandment
regarding taking his name in vain? Every time I take his name
in my mouth, I don't use the proper reverence that I should. The commandment concerning the
Sabbath. I've not rested perfectly. Thou shalt honor thy mother and
father. I've not honored my parents as
I should. But that's talking about a whole
lot more than that. That's talking about all authority. All authority. You know, I have problems with
authority. I can't stand for somebody telling
me what to do. It just goes through me. Even when my dear wife tells
me, do this, I just, ask me, don't tell me. That's a character
flaw, I won't deny that, but don't like to be told what to
do. I've always had an authority problem in that sense. Not justifying
it. Thou shalt not kill. How many
times have I murdered somebody's character? Even by not saying
what I should say to protect them. Thou shalt not commit adultery. The Lord said to look upon a
woman, to lust after her in your heart is to commit adultery already. I've been a thief. I'm not talking
about when I stole a candy bar when I was in grade school. I'm
talking about right now. Taking to myself credit where
credit's not due. Thou shalt not lie. Every time
I've opened my mouth, even if I'm telling you the truth, I'm
telling you in such a way as it's going to make me look better,
and I'm not really telling the truth in that sense. Thou shalt
not covet. Come on. Now with regard to God's
holy law, which we love, you know all the law does is expose
sin. You can't look at the law and say, well, at least I've
kept that commandment. You're a liar. You lied right then and broke
the law. Now, how can I, being, here's
another example. The Lord says, when somebody
says, what's the greatest commandment? He said, the greatest commandment
is to love God with all your heart and all your soul and all
your strength and your neighbor as yourself. You know, if that's
the greatest commandment, you know what that means? That means
24-7, I'm breaking the greatest commandment. in and of myself. Now that's clear, isn't it? So
how in the world can we read, who is he that condemneth? Well, here's the answer. I love
this answer. Who is he that condemneth? It's
Christ that died. It's Christ that died. I need no other argument. I need
no other plea. It is enough that Jesus died
and that he died for me. Now, my daughter Aubrey, if she had
committed a crime worthy of punishment, I believe if she was going to
jail and I could, I'd say put me in jail in her place. Could it happen? No. Why? Because there's no justice in
that. The one who committed the crime is the one that has to
do the time. It would just be another act
of injustice if I did take her place. That will not work. But the reason the believer cannot
be condemned is because it's Christ that died. You see, if
I took Aubrey's place, I'm as guilty as she is. Justice would
not be satisfied, but it's Christ that died. That's the difference. It's Christ that died. Now, what
are the great mysteries of the gospel? And there's many mysteries
of the gospel. But one of the great mysteries
of the gospel is that God became man. Great is the mystery of
godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. Now, we don't understand this.
We just believe it. There was a time when Jesus Christ
was not man. All he was was God, God the Son,
the second person of the blessed Trinity. And some 2000 years
ago, he took upon him flesh. The word was made flesh and dwelt
among us. God, fully God, just as if he
were not man at all. Fully man, just as if he were
not God at all. The God-man. That speaks of the
two natures of the God-man. Perfect deity, perfect humanity. Now, why did he have to become
flesh? Man sinned. Man must die. Man sinned. Man must die. Man sin, man must die, but man
cannot satisfy God. Why is hell eternal? And that's
a horrible thing to think about, but it is. It's never ending.
Why is hell eternal? Because no man can ever satisfy
God by his death. The enormity of the sin is too
great. Man cannot satisfy. The only one who can satisfy
God is God. Amen? The only one who can satisfy
God is God. But God can't die. The God-man satisfied God and
died. The God-man did both. Now, that's what is meant when
it says it's Christ that died, not some sinful man like me or
you. It's Christ that died. That's
why no one can condemn me. If Christ died for me, that's
the only answer. It's Christ that died, the glorious
God-man. Now, the universe was created
as a stage for this to come back to pass. The death of Jesus Christ. I love thinking about that. Why'd
God create the world so Christ could come and die on the cross?
That's God's purpose. Now you think about this. This
is so awesome to even think about this. But before there was a
creation, what do we know about eternity past? Christ was the
lamb slain from the foundation of the world. We know that about
eternity past. And what about the present? I
don't know if I'd ever given this a sufficient thought that
I have, but when Moses and Elijah came down from heaven on the
map of transfiguration, that's something to think about, isn't
it? Moses and Elijah had been in heaven and came down to talk
to the Lord Jesus Christ when he was transfigured before his
disciples. And what did they talk about? What's the one thing
they talked about? Luke 9 31 says they spake of
the decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem. Now before time,
that's the subject. Folks from heaven, what are they
gonna talk about? That. What about eternity future? What is the song of the redeemed? Worthy is the lamb that was slain. This is the one who died. It's
Christ that died. He came to die, you see his life,
his perfect life would have done us no good had he not died. And once again, one of the great
mysteries of the gospel is that Jesus Christ died in the first
place. When they took him from the cross,
when Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus took him down from
the cross, they took down a lifeless corpse. graveyard dead. Jesus Christ, it's Christ that
died. They put him in a tomb, and he didn't go through the
process of decay. Don't you love that? The moment
we die, we start decaying. Not the Lord Jesus Christ. He
didn't go through the process of decay. And then three days
later, as he lay dead in that tomb, three days later, His heart
began to pump. His lungs heaved in air. Why? He was raised from the dead. Why was he raised? Because he
did something that no one else can do. He completely satisfied
God by his death. In this sense, now I want you
to think about this. Who is he that condemneth, it's Christ
that died, yea rather that's risen again, who's even at the
right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. He represents
us, every one of his people. Now, here's the point, if I can
say that, of his resurrection. God raised him from the dead
because he was satisfied with him. You know what else that
means? He is completely satisfied with
everyone that Jesus Christ died for. So that when God looks at
me, he is completely satisfied with me. Me, not somebody else. He's satisfied with me. He looks
at me and he says, I can ask no more from him. He's perfect. He's holy. He's righteous. He's without sin. He's always
done that which is right. He's never done that which is
wrong. That is what God's satisfaction means. He is completely satisfied. That's why he was raised from
the dead. Who is he that condemneth? Bring it on. Bring it on. It's Christ that died. That's
the only answer I need. It's Christ that died. Yay, rather
than it's risen. who is even at the right hand
of God right now representing me. And this is so important
when we think of the intercession of the Lord Jesus Christ. It
isn't like he's up there, I commit a sin, he said, oh, forgive him
again, forgive him again. No, he stands before the Father
as the representative of the elect. And the Father is completely
satisfied with every single one of them. It's Christ that died,
yea, rather that's risen, who's even at the right hand of God,
who also maketh intercession for us. Now, the Bible gives
us a powerful illustration, and this is the very heart of the
gospel, what I'm talking about right now. This is the heart
and soul of the gospel. And the Bible gives us a beautiful,
the Lord gives us a beautiful illustration of this. Now turn
with me to John chapter eight. John chapter 8. John 7.53 says, And every man
went unto his own house. Jesus went unto the Mount of
Olives. The significance of that is the Lord didn't have a home
to go home to. He slept outside. He's what we
would call a street person. He didn't have his own home.
The son of man hath nowhere to lay his head. I'm going to 2380
Millbrook Drive tonight. It's a nice home. I like it.
I like it. He didn't have that. Let's go
on reading. Verse two. 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. She was caught in
the very act. Now what that tells me is this
was a setup. I don't have any doubt that the Pharisees set
this up where this woman would be in a position where she would
commit adultery. No doubt about her guilt. They had witnesses waiting. As soon as it happened, they
drug her physically from this and brought her into where the
Lord was teaching and threw this woman down in the midst. Now one has to wonder, where
was the man? Where was the man? He was guilty. Scripture says both of them are
supposed to be stoned, but somehow he got off the hook and they
bring in this woman and there's no doubt about her guilt. Verse four, They say unto him,
Master, this woman was taken in adultery in the very act.
We're not talking about what somebody told us. We're talking
about what is. We have seen this. We're witnesses
of this. Now, Moses in the law commanded
us that such should be stoned. That's what the law says with
regard to this. Such should be stoned. But what sayest thou? This they said, tempting him
that they might have to accuse him." Now, they, I can imagine,
they got together and said, what are we going to do about him?
I mean, he's messing up everything for us. What are we going to
do about him? Well, here's what we're going to do. We're going
to get him into a position that he can't win. We're going to
bring this woman who's taken in adultery in the very act.
And we're going to say, Moses said stoner. What do you say?
We've got him trapped. If he says stoner. We could say,
where's your compassion? You talk about compassion for
sinful men. I don't see any compassion there.
And if he says, let her go, we could say, you don't have any
respect for the law of Moses. Moses said stoner and you're
just abrogating all that saying it doesn't count. They thought
they had the Lord trapped in an unwinnable situation, which
is so amusing that such ignorant men could think that they could
entrap omniscience. Fellas, you don't know who it
is you're dealing with. So what does the Lord do? Verse six. But Jesus stooped
down and with his finger wrote on the ground as though he heard
them not. Are you listening to us? No,
no. He stooped down with his finger,
writing on the ground. And there has been so much speculation
as to what he was writing. Nobody knows. I realize that,
but I kind of like to think this. I think he was writing, thou
shalt not commit adultery. So when they continued asking
him, verse seven, he lifted up himself and said unto them, he
that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at
her. And he again stooped down and
wrote on the ground. Now there's two times in the
Bible where God wrote something with his finger. You probably
heard me say this before, but two times. The first time was,
thou shalt not commit adultery. Remember when the finger of God
wrote the Ten Commandments on the table of stones? That was
God writing. There's only one other instance
of God writing anything. It's in Daniel chapter five,
where Belteshazzar had been, he was the king of Persia, and
he He had been having a party with his buddies and he said,
let's up this party and let's take the vessels of the Lord
and bring them here and let's drink out of them and show our
superiority over the Israelites. Well, the Lord left him alone
until then, but then, nope, you take the vessels of the Lord.
A finger appeared riding on the wall. Thou art weighed together
in the balances and found wanting. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
You have. And I have no doubt that every
one of these people, he's talking about this particular sin. If you've not been guilty of
committing this particular sin, and somebody says, I've never
done it physically. Well, you've done it in your heart. You've done
it in your heart. There's no question about that.
The one without committing this sin, you throw the first stone.
And what did they do? Again, he stooped down and wrote
on the ground. And when they'd heard it, being convicted by
their own conscience, they went out one by one, beginning at
the eldest, even unto the last." Now, notice it says they were
convicted by their own conscience, not the Holy Spirit. their own
conscience because they could recognize that they were being
nothing but hypocrites when the Lord said, he that's without
sin cast the first stone and they felt ashamed of themselves. They felt guilty and they did
what? They left Christ. You see, when
you're convicted by the Holy Spirit, here's what you'll do.
You'll come to Christ for mercy. You'll come to Christ for grace.
If you're convicted by the Holy Spirit, if you're convicted by
your own conscience, you'll just try to leave. That's what they
did. And verse 10, when Jesus had
lifted him up himself, now he two stoops and lifted up himself
twice. I think this represents something.
This represents his two stoops. First, the stoop of the incarnation
when he became a man in the first place. What a stoop that was
when the he who the heavens could not contain became confined to
a body. What a stoop. And the next stoop
was the cross when he was made sin. Now he raises back up and he's
speaking to this woman on resurrection ground. After those two stoops,
now he's speaking to her on resurrection ground. And he says, 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. There wasn't anybody there to
bring an accusation. They were all gone. She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither
do I condemn thee. Now there's only one reason he
wouldn't condemn her. It's because there was nothing
to condemn her for. Jesus Christ put that sin away
so she now stands before God's holy law having never committed
adultery. And there was nothing to condemn
her for. Who is he that condemneth? Christ
died. You know what that means? There
is now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. And I love the way he ends this,
neither do I condemn thee, go and sin no more. Everyone who is not condemned
Here is what they would desire, to go and sin no more. A religious lost person would
say, why this? encourages sin, to say that you're
not held, you don't have any sin. That'll make people think,
well, I love the way the Lord, what if he would have said, well,
since it's not condemned, don't worry about it. Go ahead and
commit this sin again, over and over and over again. He didn't say that, did he? I
love the way he says this. Go and sin no more. And every
believer, this would be their desire. Lord, make it to where
I don't sin anymore. That's your desire. That's the
will being present with you. To will is present with me. But you know what Paul said after
that? How to perform that which is good. I find not. You're not condemned. Go and
sin no more.