Would you turn with me to John
chapter 8? I want to read this passage of scripture. And interestingly,
this passage of scripture that I'm getting ready to read is
the most debated passage of scripture in all the Word of God. in the
sense that there are many who want to say that this should
not be included in the scripture. They have their reasons for it. Now, I know it should be, but
this is the most debated passage of scripture as to its authenticity
in all the word of God. Begin reading verse 53 of chapter
7, and every man went unto his own house. Chapter 8, verse 1,
Jesus went unto the Mount of Olives. The Lord didn't have a house
to go home to. Can you imagine that? He did not have a house
to go home to. Everybody else went to their
house. He didn't. He went to the Mount of Olives to sleep
outside. And verse two, 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 said unto him, Master, This woman was taken
in adultery in the very act. Now, Moses, in the law, commanded
us that such should be stoned. But what sayest thou? This they
said, tempting him that they might have to accuse him. But
Jesus stooped down and with his finger wrote on the ground as
though he heard them 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, 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. Then spake Jesus again unto them,
saying, I am the light of the world. He that followeth me shall
not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." I've
entitled this message, Guilty Yet Not Condemned. Verse 2, and early in the morning,
at the break of day, And I believe this refers to
the Lord being the light of the world. This is the beginning
of that light. He came again into the temple,
and all the people came unto him, and he sat down and taught
them. And while he was teaching, An
interruption takes place, verse 3, and the scribes and Pharisees
brought unto him a woman taken in adultery. She was caught in
the very act. This was not circumstantial evidence. She was caught. No doubt that
she had committed this sin. And they said unto him, Master,
This woman was taken in adultery in the very act. Now, Moses in
the law commanded us that such should be stoned. But what sayest
thou? Now, this woman was guilty. No question about that. She was
caught red-handed. Adultery is a grave sin. It really is. As a matter of
fact, God's holy law commands that the adulterer be stoned. Now, is the punishment too harsh? Not if God says it. This gives
us some idea of the evil of this particular sin. This woman was
caught in adultery. Now, adultery is sin against
God. And it has ruined so many lives
and broken up so many homes. How many children have been permanently
scarred by the sexual sin of their parents? This woman was
guilty, and what she did was wrong, wasn't it? It was a great
evil. Nobody's going to argue that
point. She was wrong. One wonders, where was the man? Have you thought about that? You know, the law commanded that
both of them be stoned. Where was the man at this time?
How did they catch her? Was this a set up? Were these
fellas keeping Toms perhaps? How did they catch her? You know something about scribes
and Pharisees? They were the ones that brought
this woman. They're the representatives of the natural man's religion. They're always most concerned
about others keeping the law. The Pharisee is easily spotted. He's quick to point out the sin
of others. He loves to put others on the
spot. He thinks that exposing the darkness
of others will make his own light to shine brighter. And they bring
this woman. Can you imagine how humiliated
and embarrassed she was as she's brought before this crowd? And
this woman was in very deep guilty of this horrible sin. But I've
got a question for you. There's no doubt this woman was
guilty, but listen to this question real carefully. How many of us
in this room have not committed this particular sin? Now before you answer, before
you answer, turn with me to Matthew chapter 5. Verse 27, You have heard that it was said
by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery. That's the seventh commandment.
But I say unto you that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after
her, It's as if he had committed adultery with her already in
his heart. Doesn't say that, does it? What does the Lord say? He says, whosoever looketh on
a woman to lust after her, he hath committed adultery with
her already in his heart. Now that's what God's Word says. Before we get Too hard on this
woman, remember, in God's sight, you and I have done the exact
same thing. And for me or you to look down
our nose at her is hypocrisy of the highest order. Now, these
fellows thought they had the Lord trapped. They brought this
woman to Him. And they say in verse 5, Now
Moses in the law commanded us that such should be stoned. And
Moses did command that such should be stoned. And she deserved to
be stoned. And everyone who commits this
sin deserves to be stoned. This they said, tempting him,
testing him that they might have to accuse him. Now these Pharisees,
Thought they had the Lord trapped. Isn't it almost humorous that
these, and I'm not saying this mean-spirited, I hope, but isn't
it almost humorous that these idiots thought that they could
entrap omniscience? They're speaking to the Lord
Jesus Christ. And they thought they had Him trapped. We've got
Him now. Now, God's law says this woman is to be stung. She's
been caught. If He says, let her go, we can
say, where's your respect for the law of God? Where's your
respect for holiness? Where's your respect for obedience?
You're no true prophet. If you just let this woman get
by with this, you're wrong. And if He says, stone her, we
can say, where's all this mercy you talk about? Where's all this
grace you talk about? Where's all this pardon for sinners
you talk about? Why, you're speaking out of both
sides of your mouth. They thought we've got Him in a place where
He can't get out of this. Oh, they thought they had Him
trapped. How did our Lord respond? But Jesus, verse 6, stooped down
and with His finger wrote on the ground as though He heard
them not. I could just hear them repeating.
Aren't you listening to us? No. No. What was he writing? I love the
thought of this. Our Lord actually stooped down
in the dirt and took his finger and started writing in the ground.
He was writing something. He wasn't just doodling. He was
writing something specifically. What was it, though? We're not
taught. Maybe not, but I think I've got a pretty good idea of
what he was writing. You know, there's only two times
in the Bible where we read of the finger of God writing anything.
Is Jesus Christ God? This is the finger of God writing.
The first time we read of the finger of God writing, what was
it? Remember? Exodus 31, 18 says two tables
of testimony, tables of stone written with the very finger
of God. And I have in my own mind anyway,
complete satisfaction that I know what he was writing. He was writing
this. Thou shalt not commit adultery. He stooped when he said this,
and there is great significance to these stoops. As a matter
of fact, he stooped twice in this narrative. More on that
in a moment. Verse 7. 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. Now, they continued asking. And
the Lord drops a bombshell on them. I love this. He looks at
these fellows who have accused this woman and brought her before
this tribunal, so they thought. He says, You who are without this sin. He's not talking about sin in
a generic sense. He's talking about this sin. Let that one who's without this
sin, let him cast the first stone. You see, according to the law,
the witness was supposed to cast the first stone. Can you consider yourself not
guilty of this particular sin? Are you able to throw a stone? Would it not be grotesque hypocrisy to throw a stone at somebody
for committing a sin that you yourself are guilty of. Is there anybody listening in
this room right now that could throw this first stone? Are you
innocent of this sin so that you have the moral authority
to throw this stone? If somebody says, yes, you are
a liar. plain and simple. You've also
broken the ninth commandment. You're bearing false witness.
You know you committed this sin in your imagination and in your
heart. In reality, it would be an act
of high hypocrisy for me or for you or for anybody else to throw
a stone at anybody else for anything. We're the ones who should be
stoned. Do you believe that? You're not
the one that ought to be throwing the stones. You're the one that
ought to be stoned. Now, this is not excusing this
woman's sin in any way. She deserved to be stoned. She
really did. But so do we. Turn to Romans
chapter 2 for just a moment. Verse 1, Therefore thou art inexcusable,
O man, Whosoever thou art that judgest, that sits as a moral
judge over somebody else and looks down your nose at them,
getting ready to throw the first stone because of what they've
done, you are inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest.
For wherein thou judgest another, you condemn yourself. For you
that judge, you do the same things. That's what God says. You and
I. are completely unable to look
down our nose in moral superiority to anybody. Well, back to our text in John
chapter 8, verse 8. Again, he stooped down. and wrote on the ground. Now here he goes writing again. The finger of God writing. What was he writing this time?
Some have suggested names and dates. You see, he knew these
fellas' history all together. But there is one other time we
read of the finger of God writing in Scripture. Do you remember
it? In the book of Daniel, Belshazzar
is having a drunken feast. He's having a good time. And
all of a sudden, he comes up with this good idea. Let's go
get the vessels of the Lord and bring them in. And let's drink
our wine and have our party out of the Lord's vessels, Jehovah's
vessels. You know, he was everything was
fine until the end. I mean, you know, he was just
going on with his life and he died and ended up going to hell.
You know that. But he was just going on. But when he takes the
vessels of the Lord. All of a sudden, a hand appears,
the finger of God riding mene, mene, tekel, upharsin, thou art
weighed in the balances and found wanting." You are laid in the
balances of strict, impartial justice, and you're found wanting. I don't have any doubt in my
mind that that's exactly what our Lord wrote. First time he
wrote, thou shalt not commit adultery. And the second time
he wrote, thou art weighed in the balances of God's justice,
of God's law, of God's holiness, and you are found wanting. Verse 9, And they which heard it being convicted by their own
conscience, went out one by one, beginning
at the eldest, even unto the last. Now, their conscience has
got to them. You know, everybody has one of
those. But do you know a guilty conscience never brings anybody
to Christ? If all I've got is a guilty conscience,
I'm going to do what these fellas did. I'm going to leave Christ. They left Christ. They wanted
out of His presence. You see, self-righteous people
don't like being around Christ, do they? They don't like being
around His people. So they left one by one. And this poor woman was left
alone with Christ. Look in verse 9. And they which
heard, being convicted of their own conscience, not the Holy
Spirit, but their own conscience, they went out one by one, beginning
at the eldest, even into the last. And Jesus was left alone
and a woman standing in the midst. That's the best place you could
be. Alone with the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 10. When Jesus had lifted up himself. Now, there's a lot of significance
to this. Great significance. We read of
two stoops that our Lord made during this time. And we read
of two times where he lifted up himself. Now, these two stoops
have great typical significance. Our Lord had two stoops. He had two condescensions where
he just went down, went down, went down. And the first stoop
he had was when he left heaven and became a man. There was a
time when he was not a man. He's always been the eternal
Son of God. But there was a time when He didn't have flesh, when
it couldn't be said of Him, He's bone of our bones and flesh of
our flesh. But what a stoop He made when the Word was made flesh. All the limitations of humanity. And you think of the limitations
you have. You think of the things that you have to do because you're
flesh. Our Lord went through all those
limitations. He became flesh. What a stoop! What a stoop! But there's another stoop. Not only was He made flesh, what
a stoop that was, but the Lord Jesus Christ, the Scripture says,
was made sin. Now, what all that means, I do
not understand. I believe it. Believe it with
all my heart. I know he never committed sin
in and of himself. I know he's the only man to ever
live who never committed adultery. He's the only one. He didn't
even do this in his heart. He never had a lustful thought. He never had an unclean thought. He was pure before God. The only
holy man to ever live. The only man to ever honor God's
law. He honored God's law. He kept
the law. He didn't talk about it. He didn't
talk about others doing it. He did it. The only holy man
to ever live. But what a stoop when the Lord
Jesus Christ was made sin. The sins of God's elect actually
became His. He bore our sins in His own body
on the tree. He became, before the holy law
of God, the Adopter. He was made sin. Once again, I repeat, What all
that means, I don't understand. That's so far above us. But before
God, He became guilt itself. Why did He suffer? Because of
sin. They became His, and He became
the One who was to be stoned. Verse 10, when Jesus had lifted
up Himself, He's now standing before this woman on resurrection
ground. He stooped. He was made flesh. He stooped again. He was made
sin. But when He lifted up Himself,
when He was raised from the dead, He's standing before this woman
on resurrection ground. And He can say something to her
completely different than what we would expect Him to say. What
does He say to her? 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. As he speaks to her on resurrection
ground, there is now no sin. Because of these two stoops our
Lord made, this woman is not guilty. Not just forgiven. Not just pardoned. But not guilty. He sees her as not guilty for
this one simple reason. She's not guilty. That's the
only way he sees those he died for. They're not guilty. Woman, where are those thine
accusers? Hath no man condemned thee? Turn
with me a moment to Romans chapter 8. Verse 33, who shall lay anything
to the charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies. Who
is He that can live it? It's Christ that died, yea, rather
than risen again, resurrection ground, who is even at the right
hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Now, look
at the holy boldness of the Apostle Paul. When he says, who? Come
on, bring it on. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? What can be laid to your charge? When I think of the law of God
examining me, God's holy law, I tremble. It scares me to death. What can the law lay to my charge? The law looks me over through
and through and says, I can find nothing. That's how perfect his salvation
is. I can find nothing. What about
Satan? Satan is called the accuser of
the brethren. How would you like to have him
dig up dirt on you? You reckon he could find something?
You reckon He can find out something about you that nobody else knows
about? He does. Can He bring any accusation
against you before God? Come on, Satan, what have you
got to say? Can you bring any accusation? You know what Satan's
going to have to say regarding every one of God's people? He
can't find anything. No accusation. What about your
conscience? What about your conscience? Can
your conscience accuse you of anything? You know, I was thinking
about this. I've been accused of a lot of
things by a lot of people. I have. Now, I've been accused
of a lot of things by a lot of people. And you know this is
a very humbling thought. There is an element of truth
in every accusation ever brought against me. Isn't that so? Yet, my own conscience, when
called to the bar, through the blood of Christ, this is the
only thing that makes me not guilty. I mean, if you talk about
anything about me, I start feeling guilty about it. You know, man,
I operate on gift. I got plenty of that. But bless
God, the blood of Jesus Christ satisfies my own conscience. The righteousness and merits
of Jesus Christ satisfies my own conscience so that I really
believe that I look beautiful to God because I am beautiful
to God. I am holy to God. I am perfect
before God. My conscience is satisfied with
the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Woman, where are your accusers?
Hath no man condemned me? Now she finally speaks. Back
to our text in John 8. She hadn't said anything up to
this point. She said, No man, Lord. No. No accusation. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn you. He didn't overlook her sin. There wasn't anything there for
Him to condemn her for. The only reason He will not condemn is
because there's no reason to condemn. She was innocent before
the holy law of God. He didn't condemn her because
she was justified. And I love what he says next.
He says, neither do I condemn thee. Go and sin no more. The natural man. I know what
the natural how the natural man responds to this message. Hey,
this is great. That means I can sin and not
be condemned for it. Wonderful. I mean, if I knew
it was this easy, man, this is great. This gives me complete
license. Now, that's the way the natural
man responds to the gospel. When he hears it. Why, that'll
lead people to sin. That'll lead people to sin. You
know, the only reason somebody would say this is because they
don't see that they're up to their eyes at it. That's all they are in
the first place. Oh, that'll lead men to sin. But you know
what this does to a believer? When he hears of the complete,
complete, full salvation he has in Christ, you know what he wants
to do? He wants to sin no more. I don't
want to ever sin again. Justifying grace is never used
by a believer as a reason to continue in sin. And in verse 12, then spake Jesus
again unto them. After this wonderful story. This
narrative that actually took place that demonstrates to us
just how God's justice and God's mercy can meet. How God can be
just. and justify the ungodly. That's
what this story is all about. This is about the most important
question you and I can ever consider. How can God be just, consistent
with his law and justice, and yet save somebody like me? How can it be? Well, right here.
Because of his two stoops, because of him raising himself again,
This is God's justice and God's mercy meet together, making the
way for God to be just and justify the ungodly. Now, this is who
God is. And we're not going to really
know him apart from some spiritual heart understanding of how he
can be just and justify the ungodly. And I see that so clearly in
this wonderful story. I can see why Satan does want
to submit it. I can understand why Satan wants
this out of the canon of scripture. I love this story, though. Let's
close by looking at Psalm 85 once again. I hope that this passage of scripture
will give new meaning to this verse of scripture to us. Verse 10, mercy and truth are met together. Strict, unbending righteousness and peace
have kissed each other. In the person of the Lord Jesus
Christ, truth shall spring out of the earth. That's talking
about the resurrection. The truth of how God can save
sinners springs out of the earth. And righteousness shall look
down in favor. That's what that's talking about.
In complete acceptance from heaven. Yea, the Lord shall give that
which is good. and our land shall yield her
increase, righteousness shall go before him, and shall set
us in the way of his steps." Let's pray.