WEBVTT 00:00:03.040 --> 00:00:06.400 Well, it is awesome to be with you, church family, this morning. 00:00:06.639 --> 00:00:08.240 So good to see all of you here. 00:00:08.560 --> 00:00:09.439 My name is Russ. 00:00:09.519 --> 00:00:15.359 If I hadn't had a chance to meet you, one of the pastors here at Church at the Grove, excited to be with you, man. 00:00:15.759 --> 00:00:17.359 What a great what a great group. 00:00:17.519 --> 00:00:20.800 There's something wrong, obviously, with the two front rows over here. 00:00:21.359 --> 00:00:35.840 But man, what a great group that is here this morning as we're kind of celebrating our Spirit Day, repping our favorite teams, but also ready to dive in into John chapter 8. 00:00:35.920 --> 00:00:41.759 If you've got your Bibles with you or you want to follow along on the screen, you can take notes through our app. 00:00:42.960 --> 00:00:59.759 However, whatever your routine is, that helps you, I guess, process what we're studying and look back at it and be able to observe how the Lord is moving in our life through the power of the Holy Spirit. 00:01:00.960 --> 00:01:15.280 There's a saying that I was accustomed to hearing when I was growing up, and it was a bit of a metaphor for any time that you got caught with your hand in the cookie jar, so to speak. 00:01:16.799 --> 00:01:18.640 Oh, got your hand caught in the cookie jar. 00:01:18.719 --> 00:01:28.640 And it was a bit of a uh you know, throwback to a child sneaking into a kitchen or sneaking into a pantry and finding a snack. 00:01:28.719 --> 00:01:34.319 And I don't know about your kids, but I've got I've got three now that are grown pretty much. 00:01:34.480 --> 00:01:38.799 Um and and we had to hide food from them constantly. 00:01:39.040 --> 00:01:50.640 So if we had chips or or snacks that were sweet, had sugar, you know, all of all the good stuff, you know, like drinks, carbonated drinks that actually have sugar in them. 00:01:50.799 --> 00:02:00.959 Uh, we had to hide it, and and we'd have to move it around in our house because our kids would discover where the hidden treats were, and they would help themselves to it. 00:02:01.120 --> 00:02:17.520 They would get caught with their hand in the cookie jar, so to speak, and and which sometimes is is is a little bit of fun, and and they get caught, they get in trouble, they're outed, you know, they they they they can't sneak their snacks anymore, and we've got to find a new hiding place. 00:02:17.759 --> 00:02:27.120 But that phrase, getting your hand caught in the cookie jar, is also a bit of a metaphor for almost getting caught at anything in life. 00:02:27.280 --> 00:03:02.719 Um, it might be that you are driving down uh you know a back street and you've been driving down that back street for for months and years, and it's just kind of your back way to wherever you're getting to go, and nobody else knows about it, but all of a sudden you pull on that back street and you forget that the speed limit is 35 miles an hour, and there is a uh a man, a hero in uniform, man or a woman in uniform, and they are there to make sure that you are safe and that our community's safe, and they've just caught you with your hand in the cookie jar going faster than you're supposed to be going, and you you get caught. 00:03:02.800 --> 00:03:11.039 And so I now you probably have experienced some of the feelings that come with that, the sinking feeling in your gut. 00:03:11.120 --> 00:03:13.280 I don't I don't really know what that's like. 00:03:13.520 --> 00:03:29.439 Um but I won't tell you about the time I got pulled over four times in one month in Walton County, did not get a ticket one time, which I should I I said I would never say that publicly because it would it would uh it it would it would ruin my my good fortune. 00:03:29.599 --> 00:03:53.280 Um but but so I can't speak from experience, but I've heard you know when you get caught, you know, whether it's something silly like like getting snacks out of the hidden areas in your home or or whether it's speeding down a road you shouldn't be speeding, um, your heart begins to beat faster, you have this sinking feeling and this anxiety and dread as you know that it's possible that you're gonna get a ticket. 00:03:53.439 --> 00:04:30.560 And so you you probably have been there, you probably can relate whether it's a small area where we're in trouble and we got we get caught or we get our hand caught in the cookie jar, or whether it's a more serious offense, um it it may be you may you may one of the one of the major issues that I had or major times that I got caught with my hand in the cookie jar as a as a teenager, it it was a significant point of trouble in my life, but it was very specific in how it led me to a place where I was open to giving my heart to Jesus. 00:04:31.120 --> 00:04:36.560 In a sense, I fell into trouble, but I also fell into grace at the same time. 00:04:36.720 --> 00:04:40.079 Nobody wants to get caught doing something they shouldn't be doing. 00:04:40.160 --> 00:04:47.279 It's not a fun place to be, but there is something a bit freeing about not having to hide your secrets anymore. 00:04:47.439 --> 00:04:59.600 There's something a bit freeing about being caught, about forcing your sin or your misbehavior, whatever it is that you might get caught at, whether it's small or whether it's a big thing or somewhere in the middle. 00:04:59.759 --> 00:05:10.720 Um there's something almost freeing and relieving, it's a relief to bring our sin out into the light, our darkness into the light. 00:05:10.879 --> 00:05:18.639 What's worse being caught is actually just continuing to live in the dark with these deceptive secrets in our life. 00:05:18.879 --> 00:05:22.319 And so there's consequences when sin is discovered. 00:05:22.639 --> 00:05:32.639 But now, when you are, when your sin's out in the open, when you're no longer able to mask it or hide it, it's a bit of a relief. 00:05:34.160 --> 00:05:36.560 It's a place where healing can begin now. 00:05:36.720 --> 00:05:40.079 Things that were covered up now are out in the open. 00:05:40.240 --> 00:05:43.920 There doesn't have to be hidden guilt and shame anymore. 00:05:44.160 --> 00:05:56.879 And sure, it might throw some chaos in our life for our sin to be uncovered, but sin doesn't have to, sin, your sin being discovered doesn't mean you have to stay where you are. 00:05:57.040 --> 00:06:00.720 It means you simply can move forward in walking in freedom. 00:06:00.879 --> 00:06:08.480 And today's big idea is this is that sin doesn't cause you to fall from grace, but rather into grace. 00:06:09.040 --> 00:06:18.079 Sin doesn't cause you to fall from grace, but rather to it it causes you to fall into God's grace. 00:06:18.240 --> 00:06:31.279 And so this morning we're looking at another story in the Gospel of John, chapter 8, where Jesus comes in contact with a woman who is caught uh red-handed in her sin. 00:06:31.759 --> 00:06:39.199 Um and she is not met with condemnation, but she's met with grace as she encounters Jesus. 00:06:39.680 --> 00:06:43.839 So can I just stop right here and ask for the Holy Spirit to work in our life? 00:06:44.000 --> 00:06:46.319 Let me pray for us as we dive into this passage. 00:06:46.560 --> 00:06:50.160 Father, thank you for your goodness and your grace. 00:06:50.319 --> 00:07:26.959 Thank you for the hope that we have in Christ, and that even as we have to come to grips at times in different stages in our life, where our sin has to come out of the dark, into the light, our lifestyle, our behavior, our um uh our the way we live, the way we love, how we treat people, how we uh handle our things and our stuff and our resources and our finances, all of these things, Lord, bring us to a place where we're gonna either realize that we are in sin or we're gonna live our life as a result of being set free from our sin. 00:07:27.199 --> 00:07:41.199 Lord, wherever that is, Lord, help us today to understand how you want to work in our life and to bring us to a place of freedom and a place where we fall into your grace, just like we see in this story this morning. 00:07:41.360 --> 00:07:43.360 Father, speak to us in a powerful way. 00:07:43.519 --> 00:07:45.680 Come, Holy Spirit, in Jesus' name we pray. 00:07:45.759 --> 00:07:47.199 And everybody said together. 00:07:48.000 --> 00:08:03.040 So, John chapter 8, we're looking at a story where a woman is caught in her sin and she is not met with condemnation, she's met with grace as she encounters uh the very presence of Jesus. 00:08:03.199 --> 00:08:09.920 Verse 2, it says, Jesus returned to the Mount of Olives, but but early the next morning he was back again at the temple. 00:08:10.079 --> 00:08:12.720 A crowd soon gathered, and he sat down and taught them. 00:08:12.800 --> 00:08:15.519 So Jesus, this was part of his rhythm and practice. 00:08:15.600 --> 00:08:18.639 When he would go to an area, he would go to the temple. 00:08:18.720 --> 00:08:38.720 Um, he would he would take part in the Jewish uh act of worship and synagogue where they would gather, where the God's people would gather, hear the word taught, uh, apply it to their lives, have sin exposed, and hopefully grow in their faith and to grow in the grace of Jesus Christ. 00:08:38.879 --> 00:08:46.960 But this was part of Jesus' regular rhythm to go to synagogue, to get into conversation, to get in discussions, to teach and expound on the word. 00:08:47.519 --> 00:08:53.360 And as a result, people knew where they could find Jesus, and they would come and they would gather around Jesus. 00:08:53.519 --> 00:09:06.480 In verse 3, it says, and as he was speaking, the teachers of the religious law and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery, and they put her in front of the crowd. 00:09:07.519 --> 00:09:30.879 And so I'm not gonna I'm not gonna spend a lot of time this morning because I've already done it last week or two, and even coming out of the series that we had over the summer, um, we we we've talked a good bit about who the Pharisees are, who the teachers of religious law are, who are these people that are are coming to Jesus in a confrontational type of manner. 00:09:31.039 --> 00:09:33.039 And and who is it that opposes him? 00:09:34.159 --> 00:09:35.440 What are they trying to get at? 00:09:35.600 --> 00:09:43.840 We we see we've talked about that the last few weeks, and if you you want to go follow that back up, you can go watch or listen to our uh messages online. 00:09:44.320 --> 00:09:51.600 And so um in verse 4 it says, Teacher, they said to Jesus, Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 00:09:51.840 --> 00:09:54.000 The law of Moses says to stone her. 00:09:54.240 --> 00:09:55.440 What do you say? 00:09:55.679 --> 00:10:15.679 Now, what they're trying to do is they're trying to trap Jesus into saying something that will basically condemn himself, where he will condemn himself or bring it to the light that he is not who he has said he is or who people think him to be as the Messiah or the Christ or the anointed one. 00:10:15.840 --> 00:10:22.240 And it says in verse 6, they're trying to trap him into saying something they could use against him. 00:10:22.559 --> 00:10:36.399 And so the religious leaders, the moral and righteous leaders, they're often they're often trying to call out uh Jesus on his mistakes and trap him into saying something he maybe shouldn't say. 00:10:36.559 --> 00:10:45.360 Uh, but also Jesus is calling them out on their on their uh faulty beliefs and faulty teachings. 00:10:45.600 --> 00:11:00.879 And so they act as if they care about justice and law, but in actuality, they're just trying to trap Jesus into saying something wrong and something that will that will back him into a corner, so to speak. 00:11:01.120 --> 00:11:05.679 So a couple of things to note that we see that need addressing in this passage. 00:11:05.919 --> 00:11:11.519 Being caught in the act of adultery is what it says, that this woman is caught in the act of adultery. 00:11:11.759 --> 00:11:15.919 This was not subjective or it was not left to the imagination. 00:11:16.080 --> 00:11:27.679 If you were caught, people actually had to walk up and to visually, physically see that you are being caught in the act of adultery. 00:11:27.840 --> 00:11:38.159 That's his that's as forthright, and and and um I guess uh uh that's that's the only explanation I'm gonna give on that, okay? 00:11:38.399 --> 00:11:49.200 So um I I know there's people of all different ages, and and and you know, I want to be careful uh about the conversations you're able to have with your kids and your family. 00:11:49.440 --> 00:11:59.840 Um and and the other thing I want you to see in regard to this, uh, what what this woman has been caught in, is you need to know it takes two people to commit adultery. 00:12:00.320 --> 00:12:02.080 It's a two-person sin. 00:12:02.879 --> 00:12:07.039 But yet we only see the woman thrown before Jesus. 00:12:07.440 --> 00:12:08.799 So what's the problem here? 00:12:08.960 --> 00:12:11.519 The ancient world has a double standard. 00:12:11.840 --> 00:12:38.559 You think we live in a world today where we still need to address things like inequality or or um uh you know things related to to uh to seeing people uh in equal value in the sight of the Lord, whether it's man or woman or different ethnicities or backgrounds, every person is created in the image of God and should be treated as such. 00:12:38.799 --> 00:12:45.600 They had a double standard for men and and for between distinguishing between men and women. 00:12:45.759 --> 00:13:02.399 Women were fully expected to abide faithfully by their husbands while the men were allowed to engage from time to time in some extracurricular activities, and they weren't necessarily called out as strongly or as consistently as the women were. 00:13:02.559 --> 00:13:10.960 Deuteronomy 22, 22 says command it commanded that anyone caught in the act of adultery should be stoned, should be stoned to death. 00:13:11.120 --> 00:13:23.039 They should be surrounded by a group of people, and and those people take these large stones and throw it at the guilty person that's been condemned until they are no longer alive. 00:13:23.200 --> 00:13:32.799 And so if Jesus recommended that the woman be released, he could actually be accused of breaking the law or treating the law of Moses nonchalantly. 00:13:32.960 --> 00:13:34.159 And so he doesn't want to do that. 00:13:34.320 --> 00:13:47.519 He doesn't want to, he doesn't want to give a false or or or negative witness against the word of God, against the teaching of God, but he doesn't want to condemn this woman unjustly as well. 00:13:47.679 --> 00:13:49.039 He wants, what does he want to do? 00:13:49.120 --> 00:13:52.799 He wants to handle it with with grace and truth. 00:13:55.759 --> 00:14:02.000 And so Jesus has to be careful in how he addresses this, what he says about it. 00:14:02.240 --> 00:14:08.159 See, that and the reality is the Jewish leaders cared little for actual true justice. 00:14:08.399 --> 00:14:10.639 They're just looking to trap Jesus. 00:14:10.799 --> 00:14:24.879 They've engineered these set of events simply to trap him into saying something maybe that was incorrect or that would go against the law and reveal that he's not necessarily the Messiah or the anointed one. 00:14:26.799 --> 00:14:36.799 And he would give and just basically hand over to his accusers a weapon or an opportunity to accuse him further. 00:14:38.399 --> 00:14:44.480 They cared more about being right and holding on to their power than they cared about people themselves. 00:14:44.879 --> 00:14:48.480 And so this is an example, or it could be an example of spiritual abuse. 00:14:48.639 --> 00:14:56.559 Spiritual abuse goes after the weakest, the weakest of individuals, and the people that are unable to stand up for themselves. 00:14:56.720 --> 00:15:04.159 This woman is almost, we can see her as a pawn in the trap that these religious leaders are setting. 00:15:04.399 --> 00:15:13.440 In verse 6, it says they're trying to trap him into saying something they could use against him, but Jesus stooped down and wrote in the dust with his finger. 00:15:13.919 --> 00:15:15.600 So I want you to see that. 00:15:17.279 --> 00:15:26.000 This woman has been thrown in front of Jesus, accused of being caught in the act of adultery. 00:15:26.240 --> 00:15:28.159 She's there by herself. 00:15:30.960 --> 00:15:37.120 The other participant in the act of adultery is not anywhere to be seen at this point. 00:15:37.840 --> 00:15:44.879 And so you see that they're not handling things in a just manner or a fair manner. 00:15:45.039 --> 00:15:47.919 What would be considered a right manner? 00:15:49.120 --> 00:15:54.720 And so this woman, you kind of have to imagine her, she's been thrown down. 00:15:55.840 --> 00:16:02.799 She's down on the ground, probably not wanting to raise her eyes to even look at this holy man. 00:16:03.840 --> 00:16:05.679 Jesus, the Son of God. 00:16:07.519 --> 00:16:14.399 But rather than asking her to stand, he lowers himself. 00:16:16.240 --> 00:16:17.919 And he stoops down. 00:16:18.720 --> 00:16:29.279 And I wonder if in his stooping he is wanting to try to make contact between his eyes and her eyes. 00:16:30.399 --> 00:16:46.159 So that she can see the expression on his face, hear the tone of his voice, and experience what it means to fall into grace and not fall from grace. 00:16:49.200 --> 00:17:00.559 And so he stoops down, he moves down to her level, he doesn't stand over her in this power, sense of power, demanding humility from her. 00:17:00.720 --> 00:17:07.200 He comes down and he humbles himself and he comes face to face, eye to eye with this trembling woman. 00:17:08.960 --> 00:17:14.960 And then he directs his attention to the dirt and he begins to write in the dirt. 00:17:17.759 --> 00:17:24.240 Verse 6, they were trying to trap him into saying something they could use against him, but Jesus stoops down and he wrote in the dust with his finger. 00:17:27.519 --> 00:17:34.240 All these people are gathered holding stones, waiting for a command or somebody to throw the first one. 00:17:35.119 --> 00:17:36.559 And so what does Jesus do? 00:17:36.960 --> 00:17:39.759 He kneels in the ground and writes in the dirt. 00:17:40.079 --> 00:17:44.240 He meets her down in the dirt in the scum of her own life. 00:17:46.319 --> 00:17:48.400 He comes down to her level. 00:17:49.039 --> 00:17:50.480 What is he writing? 00:17:50.799 --> 00:17:57.119 We are absolutely not sure what he was writing in the dirt. 00:17:57.279 --> 00:17:58.880 There's a lot of speculation. 00:17:59.039 --> 00:18:07.519 It's fun to fun to study and to look at what theologians believe that he wrote in the dirt. 00:18:08.720 --> 00:18:11.519 What preachers believe that he wrote in the dirt. 00:18:11.759 --> 00:18:23.920 Some say that he wrote, he began to write the list of sins that had been committed by those that were holding the stones, ready to pounce and throw at this woman. 00:18:24.160 --> 00:18:27.839 He starts listing their sins and the dirt. 00:18:28.000 --> 00:18:28.799 Maybe. 00:18:30.000 --> 00:18:36.400 Others believe he began to write the Ten Commandments, the law in its most purest form. 00:18:37.039 --> 00:18:49.920 Others believe he began to write and list the names of some of those religious leaders that had been involved in some sins of their undoing. 00:18:50.720 --> 00:19:10.400 We're not sure, but we would, I would be willing to guess that in Jesus' response and what he wrote on the ground, it somehow irritated and made those religious leaders feel uneasy about the posture that they have taken against this woman. 00:19:11.119 --> 00:19:21.200 To the point that they are beginning to question whether what they should do with the stones as they hold them, ready to throw them. 00:19:21.519 --> 00:19:22.319 Verse 7. 00:19:22.559 --> 00:19:24.160 They kept demanding an answer. 00:19:24.240 --> 00:19:30.880 So he stood up again and said, All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone. 00:19:31.200 --> 00:19:33.759 What a powerful response. 00:19:35.119 --> 00:19:41.680 Alright, hey, if you want to be the ones that condemn, you without sin, throw the first stone. 00:19:45.200 --> 00:19:47.839 And so there's already this tension. 00:19:48.400 --> 00:19:49.920 What are we to do? 00:19:50.319 --> 00:19:51.759 How are we to respond? 00:19:52.000 --> 00:19:53.599 We've already seen what he's written. 00:19:53.759 --> 00:19:55.759 Some of them have seen what he's written. 00:19:56.720 --> 00:20:01.599 They kept demanding an answer, so he stood up again, all right, but let the one who's never sinned throw the first stone. 00:20:01.680 --> 00:20:06.400 Then he stooped down again and wrote in the dust, what a statement. 00:20:06.559 --> 00:20:09.200 Let no one who's ever sinned throw the first stone. 00:20:09.519 --> 00:20:12.480 The trap was set, but Jesus didn't take the bait. 00:20:12.640 --> 00:20:21.680 Instead, he turned around and he spoke to the people standing around the temple. 00:20:22.319 --> 00:20:29.599 And he says, This, it's not righteous and guilty, but sinners who admit and sinners who deny. 00:20:31.200 --> 00:20:33.680 Jesus changes the conversation. 00:20:34.480 --> 00:20:42.400 See, at this point, there are two assumed categories, the righteous and the unrighteous, or the righteous and the guilty. 00:20:43.680 --> 00:20:55.839 In reality, Jesus is trying to help those who are listening to him understand that there's more than this simple idea of righteous and guilty. 00:20:55.920 --> 00:21:00.240 It's sinners who admit and sinners who deny. 00:21:02.400 --> 00:21:03.359 That's where we need to be. 00:21:03.519 --> 00:21:05.279 We're all sinners in need of grace. 00:21:05.440 --> 00:21:13.599 We're all in need of the grace that Jesus is showing to this woman right in this story in John chapter 8. 00:21:16.319 --> 00:21:19.359 The religious leaders assume themselves to be righteous. 00:21:19.440 --> 00:21:21.519 They assume the woman to be guilty. 00:21:22.079 --> 00:21:28.640 That everybody falls into one of those two extremes when in reality they didn't see themselves in the mirror that morning. 00:21:28.880 --> 00:21:35.680 They didn't look in the mirror while they were washing their face or shaving their beards. 00:21:36.480 --> 00:21:40.240 And Jesus calls out this judgmental attitude. 00:21:41.599 --> 00:21:45.200 He teaches on it in Matthew chapter 7 in the Sermon on the Mount. 00:21:45.440 --> 00:21:46.160 And he calls them. 00:21:46.240 --> 00:21:49.200 He says, Hypocrite, you hypocrite. 00:21:49.759 --> 00:21:56.880 First take the beam of wood out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the splinter out of your brother's eye. 00:21:57.200 --> 00:21:59.519 And so the woman caught in adultery helplessly. 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:01.359 Admitted her guilt. 00:22:01.519 --> 00:22:03.440 She didn't have another choice. 00:22:03.759 --> 00:22:11.119 But far more problematic were people like the Pharisees who denied or repressed their sin and their guilt. 00:22:12.240 --> 00:22:15.680 Philip Yancey writes in his book, What's So Amazing About Grace? 00:22:15.839 --> 00:22:23.119 He says this, quote, He says, I deny far more than I confess, cloaking my sins under a robe of respectability. 00:22:23.440 --> 00:22:28.720 I seldom, if ever, let myself get caught in a blatant public indiscretion. 00:22:28.960 --> 00:22:36.000 Yet if I understand this story correctly, the sinful woman is the one nearest the kingdom of God. 00:22:37.039 --> 00:22:44.799 If you read through the gospel account, it is said of this woman that she is the one nearest the kingdom of God. 00:22:45.039 --> 00:22:57.839 And Yancey goes on to say, indeed, I can only advance in the kingdom if I become like that woman, trembling, humbled, without excuse, my palms open to receive God's grace. 00:22:58.160 --> 00:22:59.279 You see it? 00:23:00.319 --> 00:23:01.839 This would be yes. 00:23:02.240 --> 00:23:03.119 This would be no. 00:23:03.680 --> 00:23:04.480 Sometimes I just stop. 00:23:04.559 --> 00:23:06.559 I want to make sure you're with me, right? 00:23:07.279 --> 00:23:08.400 Do you see it? 00:23:11.200 --> 00:23:11.839 Grunt. 00:23:12.160 --> 00:23:15.200 Can you give me Amen? 00:23:16.079 --> 00:23:17.200 Or just moan? 00:23:18.480 --> 00:23:20.880 So let me know you're with me. 00:23:21.039 --> 00:23:25.599 Verse 9, it says, when the accusers heard this, they slipped away one by one. 00:23:25.759 --> 00:23:26.400 I love that. 00:23:26.559 --> 00:23:28.319 They slip away one by one. 00:23:28.559 --> 00:23:29.680 They slither. 00:23:30.319 --> 00:23:33.039 They slither out with their accusations. 00:23:35.599 --> 00:23:42.480 They slipped away one by one, beginning with the oldest until only Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman. 00:23:43.119 --> 00:23:43.839 I love that. 00:23:43.920 --> 00:23:45.920 That's because that's all she needs. 00:23:46.319 --> 00:23:47.599 Is Jesus. 00:23:48.079 --> 00:23:49.759 That's all she needs. 00:23:54.799 --> 00:23:58.160 She hears the dropping of the stones. 00:23:58.480 --> 00:23:59.039 Thump. 00:23:59.519 --> 00:24:00.160 Thump. 00:24:00.640 --> 00:24:02.640 And she's wondering, are they throwing them? 00:24:02.880 --> 00:24:04.079 And maybe missing? 00:24:05.039 --> 00:24:06.160 What's the thump? 00:24:06.720 --> 00:24:10.640 But she can't tell if they're just missing her, if they're being thrown, or if they're being dropped. 00:24:10.880 --> 00:24:16.640 But as soon as she opens her eyes, she sees the last of her accusers walk off. 00:24:17.200 --> 00:24:18.319 And who's left there? 00:24:18.480 --> 00:24:19.599 It's Jesus. 00:24:20.319 --> 00:24:25.440 And then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, Where are your accusers? 00:24:25.599 --> 00:24:27.599 Didn't even one of them condemn you? 00:24:27.920 --> 00:24:29.200 No, Lord, she said. 00:24:29.359 --> 00:24:33.680 And Jesus said, Neither do I go and sin no more. 00:24:34.559 --> 00:24:35.759 Go and sin no more. 00:24:36.000 --> 00:24:40.960 Now I want to tell you that we, I did, I never want to make light of sin. 00:24:41.359 --> 00:25:02.960 I never want to be be half-hearted or half-truthful about calling out, identifying, and calling God's people to repentance and to confess their sins, asking and trusting God will cleanse them and give them the gift of righteousness. 00:25:03.920 --> 00:25:05.839 And so I never want to be half-hearted. 00:25:05.920 --> 00:25:08.319 I never want to be soft on sin. 00:25:08.480 --> 00:25:09.839 We want to address sin. 00:25:10.240 --> 00:25:11.599 All of us are guilty. 00:25:11.839 --> 00:25:18.400 Jeremiah said, and Ezekiel talked about how we have hearts that are sinful and wicked. 00:25:19.039 --> 00:25:20.480 The Old Testament teaches that. 00:25:20.640 --> 00:25:22.000 The New Testament teaches that. 00:25:22.160 --> 00:25:25.440 Paul says all have sinned and falling short of the glory of God. 00:25:25.519 --> 00:25:31.519 And he said, the wages of sin is, say it with me, death. 00:25:32.000 --> 00:25:35.759 Death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. 00:25:36.240 --> 00:25:38.319 So sin leads to death. 00:25:38.640 --> 00:25:39.920 He wants us to know that. 00:25:40.079 --> 00:25:42.160 He wants us to be aware of that. 00:25:43.119 --> 00:25:50.880 But he also wants us to know that death, recognition of our sin and understanding the depth of our sin. 00:25:50.960 --> 00:25:53.680 We've talked about that this the last couple of weeks. 00:25:54.000 --> 00:25:59.920 Understanding our need for grace, the desperate need that we have for grace. 00:26:00.640 --> 00:26:09.039 All of that is to bring us to a place where we do not have to live and walk and journey in condemnation. 00:26:09.680 --> 00:26:14.720 Fearing the consequences of our sin being the end of the story. 00:26:14.960 --> 00:26:17.039 There are consequences to sin. 00:26:17.519 --> 00:26:24.400 But we have the vantage point of knowing that all of our sin has been covered by the blood of Jesus. 00:26:24.640 --> 00:26:26.799 Hallelujah and amen on that. 00:26:30.000 --> 00:26:33.359 So she hears these rocks being dropped. 00:26:33.440 --> 00:26:38.319 She opens her eyes, sees her accusers leaving, and Jesus says, Where are your accusers? 00:26:38.480 --> 00:26:41.200 Didn't even one of them condemn you? 00:26:41.279 --> 00:26:42.319 And she says, No, Lord. 00:26:42.400 --> 00:26:45.039 And Jesus says, Neither do I go and sin no more. 00:26:47.920 --> 00:26:57.200 And the one who remains with her is actually the one who has never committed a sin. 00:26:58.720 --> 00:27:03.200 And therefore has the ability to forgive her sins. 00:27:05.359 --> 00:27:08.000 And he says, Neither do I condemn you. 00:27:08.240 --> 00:27:09.200 How can this be? 00:27:09.759 --> 00:27:12.960 She's caught red-handed in this act, horrible. 00:27:13.119 --> 00:27:14.720 Can you imagine how horrible that would be? 00:27:14.799 --> 00:27:16.240 How humiliating that would be? 00:27:16.480 --> 00:27:17.839 She's blown it. 00:27:21.200 --> 00:27:44.480 And this is what the world says, well, she had a fall from grace, or people use that term, that phrase, fall from grace, to describe someone who has been maybe a leader or a participant in the Christian community, but they've been discovered to have engaged in some type of sin and they've had a fall from grace. 00:27:44.720 --> 00:27:49.920 But this is you know, I don't like that that term. 00:27:50.079 --> 00:27:51.039 I don't like that term. 00:27:51.359 --> 00:27:58.960 It's this idea that we can we have control over how God gifts us or gives us or offers us grace. 00:27:59.039 --> 00:28:02.000 Like we can choose to fall from grace. 00:28:02.240 --> 00:28:16.799 Well, he's the one who gives it freely, he's the one who maintains it and sustains it as we continue to walk the walk of faith, not perfectly, but we walk this walk of faith by grace. 00:28:19.359 --> 00:28:21.440 And so Jesus did not come to condemn. 00:28:21.519 --> 00:28:36.480 As a matter of fact, maybe the most famous verse or most well-known verse and the verses that come immediately following it, John 3.16, for God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 00:28:38.559 --> 00:28:44.400 For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but listen, but to save the world through him. 00:28:44.799 --> 00:28:47.599 Whoever believes in him is not condemned. 00:28:48.559 --> 00:28:49.599 Can I read that again? 00:28:49.759 --> 00:28:52.160 Whoever believes in him is not condemned. 00:28:52.640 --> 00:28:54.400 Yeah, thank you, Jesus. 00:28:54.640 --> 00:29:01.759 But whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. 00:29:02.000 --> 00:29:03.279 This is the verdict. 00:29:03.519 --> 00:29:08.960 Light has come into the world, but people love darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 00:29:09.200 --> 00:29:17.039 Everyone who hates, who, who, who does evil hates the light and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 00:29:17.119 --> 00:29:28.319 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God. 00:29:29.680 --> 00:29:31.920 God wants us to come to the light. 00:29:32.160 --> 00:29:39.440 He wants us to be awakened by grace to our need for grace. 00:29:39.839 --> 00:29:48.400 God is not waiting for you to come to Him with your sins so that He can crush you, but He's waiting for you to come so He can liberate you. 00:29:51.279 --> 00:29:54.640 And can we be honest about condemnation for a second? 00:29:54.960 --> 00:30:00.000 How many of you have ever struggled with a feeling of being, just feeling condemned? 00:30:00.319 --> 00:30:01.599 Can you be honest with me? 00:30:01.759 --> 00:30:02.240 I have. 00:30:02.400 --> 00:30:03.759 I'm raising my hand. 00:30:04.880 --> 00:30:07.359 There's times that I feel condemned. 00:30:07.440 --> 00:30:08.400 I feel unworthy. 00:30:08.720 --> 00:30:11.519 I feel like I can't, I can't measure up. 00:30:11.599 --> 00:30:12.640 Will I ever measure up? 00:30:12.799 --> 00:30:15.279 Will I ever get over some of these struggles that I've had? 00:30:15.440 --> 00:30:30.400 Whether it's in my thought life or in my in just my patterns of spending time in the Word with the Lord, my spiritual disciplines, or whether it's the same old sins that trip me up over and over. 00:30:30.559 --> 00:30:33.759 But the reality is we don't have to walk in condemnation. 00:30:33.839 --> 00:30:36.400 We don't have to walk in in being condemned. 00:30:36.559 --> 00:30:39.359 Joby Martin, a pastor in Florida, he says this. 00:30:39.440 --> 00:30:43.119 He says, condemnation is the native tongue of the enemy. 00:30:43.279 --> 00:30:47.279 If he opens his mouth, condemnation is about to come in. 00:30:48.799 --> 00:30:53.839 And so we feel shame and condemnation, but that doesn't come from Jesus. 00:30:54.000 --> 00:30:58.079 That comes from the enemy pointing his finger at you, reminding you of your past. 00:30:59.680 --> 00:31:17.359 Well, we have the power and the vantage point of knowing the word of God from the standpoint where we can look and we can point our finger back at the devil and we can tell the devil that we will not be judged by our past, but he will be judged by his whole life. 00:31:17.519 --> 00:31:28.400 And he can't tell us for certain how he's going to control our future, but we can tell him we know exactly what his future holds. 00:31:32.720 --> 00:31:39.519 You are not defined by what you have done, but you were defined by what Christ has done for you. 00:31:39.920 --> 00:31:49.359 And if you are in Christ, we can say this with the Apostle Paul, Romans 8, 1 and 2, so there is now no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. 00:31:49.440 --> 00:31:56.720 And because you belong to Him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. 00:31:58.559 --> 00:32:00.240 Yeah, hallelujah. 00:32:00.880 --> 00:32:02.559 That's pretty sad, isn't it? 00:32:03.440 --> 00:32:05.039 Should I read the last part of that? 00:32:05.200 --> 00:32:08.720 Let me read verse 2 again, and maybe we can appropriately respond. 00:32:10.160 --> 00:32:16.880 And because you belong to Him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. 00:32:17.200 --> 00:32:17.680 Amen. 00:32:17.839 --> 00:32:19.519 Yes, hallelujah. 00:32:22.160 --> 00:32:30.640 Walter Trovish says this that Christ accepts us as we are, but when he accepts us, we cannot remain as we are. 00:32:31.599 --> 00:32:37.440 Grace calls us into a life where we are not just recipients of grace. 00:32:37.519 --> 00:32:39.680 We are now conduits of grace. 00:32:39.920 --> 00:32:45.920 And so we become, we become the light of the world, we become the city on a hill. 00:32:46.240 --> 00:32:48.240 We become God's people. 00:32:48.400 --> 00:33:05.839 We become the living stones as the temple of God is built, and the temple of God that will last forever will be built in the heavenlies, and it'll be built through the living stones, each one of us, the living tabernacle of Jesus. 00:33:06.319 --> 00:33:22.799 And we'll spend our heavenly existence in the very presence of Jesus, not thinking one thought about what we were struggling with, with shame and sin and guilt. 00:33:23.200 --> 00:33:35.039 But man, we'll be walking and journeying in the presence of Jesus forever and ever, experiencing the fruit of God's amazing grace. 00:33:37.119 --> 00:33:43.039 And so I want to encourage you this morning as we close this time. 00:33:43.599 --> 00:34:02.000 Is let grace be, let the grace of Jesus be encouragement, let it be an exhortation for you to pick yourself up like you would imagine that woman. 00:34:02.559 --> 00:34:15.360 Jesus lifting her up where she no longer has to stare into the dirt and into the ground and give way to the accusations of condemnation and guilt that the enemy wants to throw at her. 00:34:15.519 --> 00:34:39.599 But she can stand up and she can look Jesus in the eye because he has given her the gift of righteousness and right standing with her Heavenly Father, that she can stand boldly before her Savior and she can boldly look him eyeball to eyeball and receive his grace that he wants to give her. 00:34:42.960 --> 00:34:44.960 Maybe that's you this morning. 00:34:45.360 --> 00:34:58.960 You've never pulled yourself up, you've heard about grace, you've heard about the saving work of Jesus, but you've never pulled yourself up and brought yourself to a face-to-face encounter with him. 00:35:01.119 --> 00:35:12.079 Running, running to the arms of your heavenly Father because of what Christ has done for us and what he has provided through the gift of righteousness. 00:35:12.239 --> 00:35:12.960 Would you pray with me? 00:35:13.119 --> 00:35:20.239 Let's pray together as we go into this closing time of response and worship. 00:35:20.400 --> 00:35:43.920 Father, we come to you asking that you would you would speak to us, draw us closer to you, draw us to a place where we can honestly say, Dear Jesus, I come to admit, admit my need for grace, admit that I'm a sinner in need of salvation. 00:35:44.320 --> 00:35:46.880 And I ask that you would set me free. 00:35:47.199 --> 00:35:51.599 Set me free through your grace. 00:35:51.840 --> 00:35:56.639 Set me free to run to you, my heavenly daddy. 00:35:56.880 --> 00:36:02.559 And so we ask that you would work, draw people into right relationship with you, Father. 00:36:02.719 --> 00:36:20.639 Maybe those of us that are here, maybe for the first time, others that are here that just need a fresh encounter, that we need to be reminded of how our right standing in the presence of Jesus, it comes from Jesus, it doesn't come from our own effort. 00:36:23.519 --> 00:36:39.519 So, Father, we we long to see your children running to your arms, calling out to you, trusting in you to provide for us what we cannot provide in our own strength. 00:36:39.760 --> 00:36:44.800 So, Father, we offer this time of response back to you. 00:36:47.679 --> 00:36:55.840 As we sing, as we pray, as we come before you at the altar, I pray that you would you would speak and you would work. 00:36:56.880 --> 00:36:58.400 It's in Jesus' name we pray. 00:36:58.639 --> 00:36:59.280 Amen.