Turn your Bibles with me to John
chapter 8. Back to John chapter 8. Let me say we're thankful. Thankful
for the opportunity to be with you here this morning. John chapter 8, this will, Brother
Jason mentioned, this will serve as our text this morning. And I have five points I pray
the Lord would enable us to see from this passage of scripture. Each of those five points, consisting
of five words, Paul writing to the Corinthians, he said this,
he said, I'd rather speak five words with the voice of my understanding
that by my voice I might teach others also than a thousand words,
than a thousand words in an unknown tongue. Paul had the ability
to speak many languages, and what a treat that would be. I was talking to our brother
Gabe Stonnet here a while back, and he's preaching to a group
in Africa, and he said he has to learn how to pause at certain
points so a translator can speak. And I thought, reading that,
wouldn't that be a blessing to others to be able to just speak
in any language and be heard? But he says this, he said, I'd
rather just speak to you a few words, just a few words to the
congregation in a language that they can understand than just
to be able to speak 10,000 words and nobody hear a thing. And
I want to preach to you this morning, and not just this morning,
but at any time, and whoever stands in this place, any time
we gather together, Anytime the Lord give us opportunity to do
so in truth and simplicity, the simplicity of the gospel. In another place, Paul wrote
this. He said, I fear, this is my fear that lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through
subtlety, through craftiness, through trickery, so that your
mind should be corrupted from the simplicity which is the gospel,
the simplicity that is in the Lord Jesus Christ, the singleness
which is in the Lord Jesus Christ. I pray that he would enable me
to do that this morning, not with, listen again, not with
craftiness, not with trickery, but to preach Christ in simplicity,
plainly and clearly. in simple and easy to understand
terms. And listen, no matter how simple
those words may be, we must have his spirit present to make those
things plain to us, that the Lord Jesus Christ, through his
spirit, would reveal his gospel to us. And here in John chapter
8, Early in the morning, it says,
they had gathered together early in the morning and the Lord had
come to the temple. And we read in verse two that
the people came unto him and he sat down and taught them. And while he was teaching the
people, Oh, wouldn't that have been a, can you just, I tried
to picture that. Can you imagine what a sight
that would have been? What that would have been like
to sit and hear our Lord preach? Oh, how clearly and plainly he
must have preached and the understanding that would have been given. But
as he was teaching the people, the scribes and the Pharisees,
they brought unto him a woman, it says, taken in adultery. And
listen, they just, They just set her right there in the middle
of the congregation. Right in the middle of the congregation
for everyone to see her and no doubt to see them. Most of what
the Pharisees and scribes did was an effort to be seen of men. You think what a disruption that
must have been. I can remember years ago we sat here up on the
front row and there was a man came into this congregation and
he started creating a stir. And he, to the point that he
had to be, a few of the men had to walk back and walk him out
to the parking lot. I often think of that as we gather
together that the Lord would enable us just for a few minutes
to hear his word without any disruption. Not from anybody
walking in that door, probably more so in our minds and in our
hearts, those things that so easily beset us and take up our
thoughts, that he would truly just let us worship without any
distractions, without any interruptions. But these men, they spoke to
the Lord and they said, And imagine the nerve of them. Here the Lord
is preaching and they come in and this is what they're going
to do. They said this woman was taken
in adultery. She was taken in the very act
of it. And if you look here at verse 5, you see that? Verse 5. It says, now Moses and the law commanded
us. You see that? Moses and the law
commanded us. And here's my first point. Here's
the first five words. That such should be stoned. This woman had sinned. There's no question about that. Would anybody question the fact
that this woman is a sinner? It says that such should be sung.
What's the consequence of sin? We read it in the scripture.
It's death. Death. Now the scribes and the Pharisees,
they had no interest in justice here. That's not what this was
about with them. They sought to discredit our
Lord. That was their goal, to discredit
him in the eyes of the people. Had they truly been interested
in justice in this case, They wouldn't have just brought the
woman, they would have brought both people with them, right?
They would have brought the man and the woman. Back in Leviticus
chapter 20, I won't have you turn there, but it says this
in Leviticus 20 verse 10, the man that committed adultery with
another man's wife, even he that committed adultery with his neighbor's
wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death. That's what the law says. But they only brought the woman. But listen, according to the
law, that doesn't release her from anything, right? According
to the law, she's to be stoned. She's to be put to death. She had broken God's law. And the same is true of each
and every one of us. We have broken God's law. We've sinned against God. Just as Adam. God told Adam back
there in the garden. He said, of the tree of the knowledge
of good and evil. He said, in the day, don't eat
of it. For in the day that you eat thereof, thou shalt surely
die. Adam and Eve, they didn't die
physically, immediately. No, spiritual death. Adam disobeyed
God. He transgressed God's law. He
sinned against God. And again, that's true of, listen,
that's true of every one of us. Whether we're willing to admit
that or not, it's true. We're sinners. Verse five of
our text. This woman who had broken God's
law, scripture says this, that such should be stoned, put to
death. The wages of sin is death. Romans 6.23. Here in another
place we read this. The soul that sinneth, it shall
surely die. Guilty and deserving of death. And listen, I don't read anywhere
in this passage where this woman tried to defend herself. She
didn't deny that, did she? She didn't deny that. She didn't
do what we do. Listen, what do we do when we're
caught in something? We deny it or we start making up excuses
as to why. This woman does not, she doesn't
do that. Let's read on in our text. Look
at the end of verse five. They asked the Lord, what sayest
thou? What sayest thou?" And they said
this, tempting him, again, that they might accuse him. And you
know, if he said this, he's, well, the law's right, stone
her. Well, that would have, the people
would have, the people would have just been done with him,
right? If he said, let her go, then
he would have been, accused of violating the law. He doesn't
follow the law, but I believe there's another lesson we can
learn here. He said nothing. Can't you think of a few times
where you wish you'd have said nothing? I can. If none of the rest of
you can, I can. Could you just remain silent? And instead, it says he stooped
down. The Lord Jesus Christ stooped
down. We could probably spend the rest of the day with just
that passage, he stooped down. Did any man ever stoop down like
the Lord Jesus Christ stooped down? He came down, he came down
from heaven. Almighty God was made flesh. He took on himself the form of
a servant. Oh, he stooped down, didn't he?
He suffered and died on the cross for his people. Has any man ever
stooped down like the Lord Jesus Christ? Listen, he stooped down
and with his finger, he wrote on the ground, What a finger
that is. Listen, that's the same finger
in scripture that wrote those tables of stone. That's what
scripture says, isn't it? He wrote with a finger, wrote
on those tables of stone that he gave to Moses. Turn to Romans
chapter three. Romans chapter three. The purpose of the law, look
at this, Romans chapter 3 verse 19. Now we know, what do we know? We know that whatsoever things
the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law, for this
purpose, that every mouth may be stopped and the whole world
become guilty. guilty before almighty God. That law he wrote back there
on those tables and stuff, that's the same law this woman's violated.
That's the same law we violated. The finger of God. Same finger that back there in
Daniel 5 wrote to King Belshazzar, this is what it said. King Belshazzar,
you've been weighed in a balance and you've been found wanting.
All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. And then
here in John chapter eight, he stoops down and he writes on
the ground, We had no idea. We had no idea what he wrote
on the ground. Some of the old writers say this,
that maybe he wrote down maybe some events in some of those
Pharisees' lives that maybe they wouldn't have been so proud of.
Maybe he wrote some dates and things to kind of, maybe some
names that would jog their memories. We don't know what he wrote.
But we know this, that they continued asking him. They continued asking,
what sayest thou? What sayest thou? And look at
verse 7. When they continued asking him,
he lifted up himself and he said unto him. Now here's my, here's
the second point here. Five words. He that is without
sin. He that is without sin. Now we've
established, not too hard to establish, this woman was a sinner.
She had broken God's law. Was that true just of her? Is
she the only sinner in the temple? He that is without sin. You know, outward sin is usually
pretty easy to see. And we do pretty well most of
the time trying to cover that up. But listen, here's the problem. Sin's not on the outside. It's not the outside of the cup,
right? Sin's inward. It's not what we do. That's just
a symptom. It's what we are. We're sinners. Our Lord says this, he that is
without sin among you, let him cast the first stone. Among these scribes and Pharisees,
these most religious people, is there any without sin? In Matthew chapter 23, our Lord
spoke to a group of Pharisees and scribes And in verse 27 of
Matthew 23, this is what he said. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites. He said, you're like whited sepulchers. Indeed, they appear beautiful
outward. But within, they're full of dead
man's bones. I was thinking about this this
morning driving up. We just come through Memorial
Day this past weekend. And you drive by these cemeteries,
and all the grass is mowed, and all the grass is cleaned off
the markers, and there's flags and flowers. And it's pretty. It's a pretty sight to be seen. Listen, under the ground, it's
nothing but dead man's bones. And that's what our Lord said
about the Pharisees. He said, on the outside, oh, you're white
and shiny and look fantastic. But inside, we're dead. We're dead. Outwardly, outwardly,
you appear righteous unto men. But within, you're full of hypocrisy
and iniquity, full of iniquity. transgression of the law. And
listen, these scribes and Pharisees, they were not without sin. There
was only one there that day that was without sin, that's the Lord
Jesus Christ, but none other, none other. In Romans 3.23, we
read, all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. And our Lord in Matthew chapter
12, He referred to these Pharisees as an evil, and listen to the
word, adulterous. That's the language he used.
Those are the words he used to describe these Pharisees that
had now come and brought this woman before him, accusing her
of adultery. They're just as sinful, but they're
ready to condemn this woman. Now my point here is this, all
have sinned. All have sinned. We have all
transgressed God's law. We're all deserving of death
and condemnation, knowing, knowing that. Wouldn't you think we'd have
a little kinder spirit at times, huh? Maybe a little more gentle
attitude toward others. And I promise you, I'm speaking
more to myself than anybody in this room. Maybe even a little
more forgiving of others. In Galatians 6, we read, brethren,
he's speaking to believers here, he said this, brethren, if a
man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore
such a one in the spirit of meekness. Huh? Considering thyself, lest
thou also be tempted. Let's not forget. those to whom the Lord's been
merciful. Let's not forget the pit that we were dug out of. In Ephesians 4, 32, it says,
be ye kind one to another, tend to hearted, forgiving one another
as God for Christ's sake has forgiven you. Let's move on,
let's move on here. that such should be stoned, the
wages of sin is dead. He that is without sin, all have
sinned and come short of the glory of God. He that is without
sin, let him cast the first stone at her. Verse eight, and again,
he stooped down and he wrote on the ground. Verse nine, 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. And when Jesus had lifted up
himself and said, or he saw, I'm sorry, he saw none but the
woman. I don't know what kind of crowd
there was surrounded, but there's two people right here. There's a sinner and there's
a savior. And listen, it says, he saw none
but the woman. Back there in the book of Ezekiel,
remember that child, that little infant that had been cast out
into the open field? The Lord said this, he said,
when I passed by and saw thee, he saw her, he saw her and he
said, I saw thee as you are. I saw thee polluted in thy own
blood. And when he saw her, he said
this, he said, live. He spoke, he spoke life. It's awful. It's awful what this
woman had done, her sin. And the Lord did not in any way
justify her actions. He didn't deny the justice of
the law in condemning her. But I think about this. I read
this passage. And I think about, you ever ask
this question, why? Why would this ever happen? How could this ever happen? Do
you ever think about things like that? Why would this ever come
to pass? What good? What good could possibly
come from this? This woman was taken in the very
act of adultery, drug into the temple, and brought before the
Lord of Glories. What good could possibly come
from this? Joseph back there in the Old
Testament. Remember that? His brothers took him and they
sold him. I mean, they were going to kill
him. And they decided they'd just rather make some money off
of him, sell him into slavery. All those years passed by. He
spent that time as a slave. He spent time in prison. But
in time, the Lord, he was accused of things he did not do. How
many years passed by? I wonder how many nights he laid
to bed thinking, what? What? But you know what he said
there to him when his brothers came to get that corn? He said,
you meant this for evil. Man's actions, man's deeds often
are meant for evil. But that wasn't the end of it,
was it? He said, God meant it for good. These men, they had
no good purpose in their heart dragging this poor woman into
the temple. But you know, it's the very means
by which the Lord Jesus Christ is going to cross her path. We
read nowhere that she was seeking the Lord, yet she was brought
to him. In verse 10 of John 8, he saw
none but the woman. Oh, he laid his eyes upon her,
no doubt in mercy and grace. And he says this, listen to these
five words. Where are those thine accusers? Is there nobody here to take
up a stone and cast it thee? Is there no one here free from
sin? No man to execute this sentence
upon you? You know, the law required at
least two or three witnesses to prove a case. You couldn't
execute, if you look back there in the book of Deuteronomy, two
or three witnesses to execute someone. In fact, the witnesses
themselves were to take part in that execution. They were
to take part in carrying out the sentence. But there was not
a single witness left. No one, no one to accuse her. And again, up to this point,
this woman hadn't said, she hadn't said a word. She had not said
a word. You know, scripture says this,
that every mouth may be stopped. And the whole world, we just
read that, every mouth stopped and the whole world guilty before
God. You know a man or a woman or
a young person that's truly convicted, we had nothing to say. I worked as an assistant principal
one time. A lot of times it was, not very
often, but often you could tell when a kid was truly guilty of
what they'd been accused of, because they didn't say a word. There's no defense to be offered. You know our Lord, it says, as
a lamb before his shearers is done, so open he not his mouth, He was guilty. Our sin was laid
on Him. He bore the sins of His people. No sin of His own, the sins of
His people. Look here in verse 11. Hath no
man condemned thee? What's she say? No man, Lord. Now there's two things here.
One, she says no man has condemned me, but listen how she addresses
the master, Lord. No man, Lord. You know, the Pharisees,
they called him master, and that word means, if you look it up,
it means the same thing, but listen, it was a term of indignation
for them. I imagine it didn't flow off
their tongue when they called him master, right? She calls
him Lord. Listen, that's what that publican
called him. Remember that? He said, Lord,
be merciful to me, the sinner. The thief on the cross. Well,
he said, Lord, remember me. The leper. That poor leper said,
Lord, if you will, you can make me whole. Listen, he is the Lord
Jesus Christ. And she calls on the name of
the Lord. You know what God's word declares? It says, whosoever shall call
on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Read on here in verse
11. Five more words. Look here, verse
10. Neither, I'm sorry, verse 11. Neither do I condemn thee. Can you imagine that? Some of
us can, can't we? The joy that filled her heart,
huh? This sinful woman, worthy of
death, worthy of condemnation, standing before the judge of
all the earth. Not just a group of Pharisees,
but the Lord of glories. Scripture says, neither is there
any creature that is not manifest in his sight. He knows all things. He sees all things. All things
are naked and open unto the eyes of whom with we have to do. all knowing, all seeing, and
he says, the Lord Jesus Christ says this, neither do I condemn
thee. How is that possible? How is
that possible? You know, in John chapter three,
verse 17, we read that God sent not his son into the world to
condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. How? How can he say this to this
woman? Because listen, he's a just God. He's also a savior. a just God
and a Savior. Neither do I condemn thee. Turn with me to Romans chapter
8. Romans chapter 8 verse 1. How can he say this? Romans 8 verse 1, there is therefore
now, right now, no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus
who walked not after the flesh but after the spirit. The Lord
Jesus Christ, he bore the penalty. of sin, he bore the judgment
of sin, the condemnation of sin, not just for this woman's sin,
but for the sins of all his elect. Christ hath redeemed us from
the curse of the law being made a curse for us. Back there in
Isaiah we read he was wounded for our transgressions. He was
bruised. Why? For our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was upon him, and with his stripes we're healed. Neither do I condemn
thee. Turn to Romans 8, if you still
have it there. Look at verse 33. Romans 8 verse 33. Can the Pharisees charge this
woman? Can any man charge this woman?
Romans 8 verse 33. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? There's nothing for her to be
accused of. His people, there's nothing for them to be accused
of. We're justified. We're delivered from the curse
of the law. He was made a curse for us. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It is God that justifies. Who
is he that condemneth? It's Christ that died, yea, rather
is risen. who is even at the right hand of God, seated at the right hand
of God, who also maketh intercession for us. And the Lord Jesus Christ
looks at her and he says, neither do I condemn thee. Well, quickly
back to our text, John 8. Verse 11, five more words here. I'm sorry if I went long here.
According to the clock there, I just hadn't even started yet. Fifth point, go and sin no more. Now let me ask you, is that possible,
huh, to sin no more? Listen, we can't make it through
this worship service without sin, huh? We can't make it through
a sentence without sin. Consider this woman's way of
life, this situation she had been taken from, her friends,
her companions, the tenor of her life. What he's saying is
don't go back to that. Don't return to that. Romans 6 verse 1. We're asked, shall we continue
in sin that grace may abound? We should anticipate that question,
though, huh? We should anticipate that. People
say things like that. Oh, if I believe what you believe,
I'd sin all I want to. I promise you, the believer sins
more than they ever want to. How shall we that are dead to
sin live any longer therein? Abby used to work for an orthopedic
surgeon, and he was really good. And there were times that really
any of us, if we had done something and we needed his care, We had
it. I mean, Abbott could just call.
And I remember one time, Isaac had this thing come up on his
knee, and she described it. And he said, you go straight.
He said, don't go to the ER. He said, you go straight to the
hospital, and I'll be there waiting on you. And I'll get you in and
make sure you're attended to. Brady broke his foot one time.
And I think we went over, like, on a Saturday or something. And
he looked at him. Now, the point is this. The point
is that it was nice. having him, right? It was nice
to know that anytime we had something that he would care for us. But
we didn't go around the house trying to break our legs so we
could go get service, right? You say that'd be foolish, right?
I believe that's why Paul said, when he said, shall we sin that
grace may abound? God forbid, God forbid. If Christ be in you, the body
is dead because of sin, but the spirit is life because of righteousness. Dead to sin. Listen, if God's
regenerated me, if he's sanctified me, justified me, I'm dead to
sin. The blood of Jesus Christ has
cleansed me. I'm dead to sin. But he says, go and sin no more. As long as we walk on this earth,
that old man's going to be there. We're going to be dragging him
along, or he's going to be dragging us from time to time. But I think
of Lot's wife. Remember that? Lot and his family,
they left Sodom. There weren't ten righteous people
to be found in Sodom. It was wicked. It was a wicked
place. But what did Lot's wife, wicked
Lot, what did his wife do? She turned and she looked back. I don't think she did that because
she was interested in seeing the destruction. You know, we
see a car wreck or something, we kind of turn to look and say,
why'd she turn back? That's where her heart was. That's
where her desire was. She looked back and she was turned
to a pillar of salt. I ask you this, those of you
whom the Lord has delivered, Would you go back? Would you turn back? Our Lord
says, go and sin no more. Well, I'd rather speak five words
to you. Five words with the voice of
my understanding. By my voice, I might be able
to teach you. That's what Paul said. Do you still have John
8? Just quickly here. Five words. Look at verse 5. that such should be stoned. The
wages of sin is death. Verse seven, he that is without
sin. Who is that? That's everybody.
All, all have sinned. Verse 10, five words. Where are
those nine accusers? Can Satan accuse you? He's been
conquered. Can the law accuse you? Lord Jesus Christ fulfilled the
law. Can judgment? The Lord Jesus Christ has been
judged. God's justice has been satisfied. Where are thine accusers? Verse 11. Neither, neither do I condemn
thee. Could there be, I think you said,
could there be any sweeter words? Can there be any words sweeter
in the human voice than that? Neither do I condemn thee. I'll tell you who they're sweet
for. They're sweet for a sinner. A sinner condemned death and
condemnation, neither do I condemn thee. And then five more words. Go and sin no more. These things I write unto you
that you sin not. I pray the Lord would make that
plain to us. I pray he'd make it plain to
us and truly let us see that and enter in. Don Fortner preached a message
one time from this same scripture, and he said there's a couple
people in this story here. He said there's a group of Pharisees,
and he said there's this sinful woman deserving of death. Can you put yourself in one of
those categories? Oh, I pray the Lord would make
it plain to us. Those Pharisees are representative
of the law in that story. Galatians 3, 24 says the law
was our schoolmaster that brings us to Christ. Those Pharisees
were a picture of the law, and she wasn't looking for Christ
like you said. The law brought her to Christ. And that's a wonderful
message. Mike, would you care to lead
us in a word of prayer before you sing, yeah? Thank you. My
gracious Heavenly Father, how we thank Thee for Thy precious
words. Neither do I condemn Thee. Thine you left from all their
sin. How we rejoice. Thank thee, Lord,
for this message. That one day you came to our
heart and you said, there's no condemnation. We thank Thee, Owee, for that
love. Oh, what love, our blessed Lord, sent to us because of love. You loved us first. that all that we need is empty arms. Did you hear what Jesus said
to me? We're all taken away, away. Our sins are pardoned and you
are free. We're all taken away. We're all taken away, away. We're all taken away, away. We're all taken away, away. So I'll praise the Lord for sins
forgiven. They're all taken, all taken
away. I longer press on my way to heaven. They're all taken away. My sins are all taken away. My sins are all taken away. Okay. th th th th th th Okay. I'm not. th th th th