Mercy on Disciples

Well, this is a first for me.

I'm taking out my cell phone, and any of you who know me know my cell phone is, should I

! say this?

It's possessed.

And I say this because it sometimes rings at the most inopportune times, and I'm trusting

that it won't do that.

I have misplaced my watch, and I'm not relying on any of you to tell me what time it is.

So, I'm going to rely on my cell phone to give me hints of, you know, how much beyond

10 after 12 I go.

You think I'm joking.

So, for me to say that I need your prayer would be something you've not heard before, and

it's desperately true.

Any and every time a man stands to preach the Word of God, it is right.

It is biblical in that it fits the frame and instruction of Scripture that people should

pray, both that their hearts are receptive to the Word of God, because I'm certain there

are going to be things that are said today, as is in every case where the Word is taught,

that there are things that affect your heart and life, and God intends for you to respond

to them.

And so there is a part of your responsibility of praying that the Word of God would have free

course.

And then it's appropriate also to pray for me that what I say is governed and controlled

by the Spirit, is faithful to the text, and lifts up the Lord Jesus Christ.

That's a burden that you have.

Do you understand that?

You have an obligation, a responsibility, and I'll say this carefully.

Average people praying for average pastors enable exceptional preaching.

Don't ever forget that.

Don't ever forget that.

So, let's turn in our Bibles to John chapter 7, verse 53.

John 7:53

Actually, I'm going to begin in my text, and this is not an original manuscript.

They're gone.

Nobody knows where they are.

But I'm going to be reading in the English Standard Version, and some of you may also have a little parenthetical comment.

I'm going to read that this morning, and it has bearing on the lesson.

The earliest manuscripts do not include 753 through 811.

They went each to his own house, but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.

Early in the morning, he came again to the temple, and all the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them.

The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery and placed her in the midst.

They said to him, Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery.

Now, in the law of Moses, in the law, Moses commanded us to stone such woman.

What do you say?

This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him.

Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground.

And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them,

Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.

And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground.

And when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones.

And Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him.

Jesus stood up and said to her, Woman, where are they?

Has no one condemned you?

She said, No one, Lord.

And Jesus said, Neither do I condemn you.

Go, and from now on, sin no more.

Let's pray.

Our Father, this morning as we take this passage of Scripture in hand,

we're mindful of the clear instruction and the explanation in the text,

not just here, but what you tell us is that we are dependent upon you working in us

for us to comprehend and apply the sweetness and beauty of this passage.

And we confess that it's fairly easy for us this morning as we are gathered together

to allow our minds to kind of slip over into autopilot

and just kind of bear with the time that lies between now and our departure.

Some of us perhaps speculating upon what we'll do after the service is over.

Others of us actually scrolling through and thinking of things that we would be tempted

to consider important, such as things we may want to buy or what we're trying to do on the holidays

and all different kinds of little thoughts that have nothing to do with eternity.

And so we're mindful this morning that we need your help

to bring every thought into captivity to the glory of Christ.

We need your help to hear the Word of God and apply it directly to our own lives.

We need your help to grow to be more like the Lord Jesus Christ,

that He who abides supreme would be glorified in our frail lives.

And we ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.

Amen.

Well, this morning I can't think of another time where I read you a little parenthetical statement

at the very opening that really addressed the issue of a textual variant,

and there's a reason for that.

My general pattern of beginning a sermon is to read the passage,

give you a little comment, an overview, and then pray, and then off we go to the work.

Today, my complete confidence in the inerrancy and the preservation of Scripture

prompts me to spend a little extra time this morning presenting a defense

for my complete confidence in the authority and the reliability of the Word of God.

And I have no hesitation in saying to you that what 2 Timothy 3, verse 16 says is entirely true.

2 Timothy 3:16

All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and it's reliable, it's profitable,

that the man of God may be completely furnished for every good work.

And this passage is no exception.

I think many of you, and I'm just curious, raise your hand,

if you have a Bible that notes the fact that this is one of those passages that is a little atypical.

How many? Wave that so I see.

Okay?

Most of you have some indication that this passage is one that doesn't appear in the earliest manuscripts.

And that little announcement actually tells us something important.

For one, it tells you that the translators of Scripture are painfully honest in mentioning what this text is

and how it relates to the rest of the Scriptures,

and they let you know the information that has governed most of the gathering

and the including in the canon of the Scriptures.

I appreciate their honesty, and I respect it a great deal.

And for another, the note alerts you to one of two passages in the New Testament

that are not as well documented in ancient Greek texts.

The other one, does anybody know without looking?

Does anybody know what the other one is?

You know what it is?

It is in what gospel?

Stephen?

Pardon?

No, the woman at the well is there.

I'm thinking about Mark chapter 16, the last couple verses.

Mark 16 · chapter mention

And so, any of you want to speed over there and kind of take a look?

There's another indication of an extended passage that doesn't have documentation in the earliest texts.

Now, that being said, I could take time here to give you a lengthy overview of the way in which our Bible was put together

and the rules that governed the verses and parts that have been included that you hold in your hand.

And the fact of the matter is, is that our Bible that we actually have did not come, has not come to us from an original manuscript.

Now, what do I mean by original?

Case in point.

Paul sat down and wrote a passage, Scripture, Ephesians or whatever it is, he used in Emanuensis in many cases,

but that was sent directly to the…

No copy of Paul's…

I shouldn't say no copy.

No original of Paul's letter exists.

But there are countless, countless texts that are copies of the original,

and those recopied portions are the things from which the Scriptures have been gathered that you and I hold in hand.

And translators, eventually, when they got together to translate the Bible,

whether it was from Greek or from Hebrew into English or whatever language that they relied upon,

what they did was they relied upon copies and they paid very careful attention to each word.

Let's take, for example, they had 10 copies of Isaiah chapter 50.

Isaiah 50 · chapter mention

Use that as an illustration.

One of the things they wanted to check was to see that each word was the same in the 10 copies,

so that there was a reliable accuracy across the…

How many of you played telephone by any chance?

You ever played telephone?

I remember when I was…

Steve, you're the guilty party on telephone.

In the Steve Rice small group, we played telephone,

and by the time it got…

We were only six or seven people around the room,

and by the time it got to the end of the…

It's just a mess.

Well, relying upon the complete accuracy of the translations,

one of the things that the people who put together the Scriptures have done

is they've very carefully matched up the different copies to see,

are these words exactly the same in each one of the various copies?

And that's one of the things they rely upon to guarantee the accuracy of the text.

And where there are wording variations,

and there are a couple of them, there are several,

one of the things that the translators have always done is, for one,

they give preference to the wording that comes from an earlier copy.

If the copy was actually made in, let's say, 100 years after the apostle wrote it,

it tends to be viewed as more reliable than a copy that was made 300 years later,

by virtue of that common expression or expectation that the further down the food chain you go

in playing telephone, probably the further you get from the real pieces.

And so, preference is generally given to those that are earlier copies.

Second thing that is given preference is when the wording appears to be the same

in most copies.

It only is a variant in maybe one of 100 copies.

Another preference is given in matching what the verse says

against all of the rest of the record of Scripture.

And that's one of the things that I'm going to rely on this morning

as we work our way through to understand this passage.

We're going to discover that what this passage teaches us about Jesus

is absolutely consistent with the rest of the record of Scripture.

I want to tell you something.

One of the real tests of the authenticity of a translation

is the doctrinal clarity with which it puts things out in front of you.

Whether you're reading the Scriptures in English or Hindi or Spanish or Latin,

whatever it is, if it is the Scripture,

it's going to present the same doctrine across the spectrum.

Does that make sense?

In fact, people come to me, they kind of get wigged out,

and, Pastor, you're not using the King James Version,

and it is the one version that has God's absolute reliable stamp on,

and my rebuttal is this.

Okay, so tell me, which doctrine does ESV get wrong?

No, it doesn't.

And so when people are weighing,

well, this John 8 passage,

it doesn't appear in some of the manuscripts,

but is it consistent with the record of Scripture

and the picture we have of the Lord Jesus Christ?

So since our passage doesn't appear in the earliest manuscripts,

allow me to pose several questions

that I gathered this week in reading one of the comments

that John MacArthur made.

He said this,

Do these verses teach truth that violates any other passage of Scripture?

And the answer is no.

No.

Second,

do they, in fact, corroborate other passages in Scripture

and substantiate it?

The answer is yes.

And keep your finger there in John

and turn back to John 3, verse 17.

John 3:17

We have a very interesting picture here.

It's not going to appear on the screen.

Sometimes I'll say something and people look,

and is that going to come up?

This time it's,

how many of you notice that I sit down here and make notes?

I make notes in the morning,

Sunday morning as I'm praying and preparing.

What I have in hard copy and what happens at the pulpit

always gets kind of amended a little bit.

John 3, 17.

Listen to it.

It says this,

For God did not send His Son into the world

to condemn the world,

but in order that the world might be saved through Him.

That passage gives us a picture of Jesus

behaving in John 8

in complete consistency

to what we read in John 3, verse 17.

John 3:17

So the question, the second question was,

does what happens in this passage

corroborate other Scripture and substantiate?

And we see that to be true.

And the third question is this,

is there definite and conclusive evidence

that this passage should be left out?

And the answer is no.

So with that said,

we want to dig into this passage with complete confidence,

believing that it tells us the truth about the Lord Jesus

and teaches us lessons that you and I,

sitting here this morning,

need to learn.

Let's look first of all, if you will,

going back to John 8,

that this passage gives us a very interesting little picture

of our Lord Jesus,

the flesh,

the part,

the word incarnate part.

Okay?

And so you look here in John 8,

and it says there in verse 53 of 7,

actually it says,

they went each to his own house,

but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.

Let me have you turn back to a passage that I do mark for you,

and I want you to look at Isaiah chapter 42,

Isaiah 42 · chapter mention

Isaiah chapter 42,

Isaiah 42:1–4

verse 1 through 4.

Behold my servant,

whom I uphold,

my chosen,

in whom my soul delights,

I have put my spirit upon him.

He will bring forth justice to the nations.

He will not cry aloud,

or lift up his voice,

or make it heard in the street.

A bruised reed he will not break,

and a faintly burning wick he will not quench.

He will faithfully bring forth justice.

He will not grow faint,

or be discouraged,

till he has established justice in the earth,

and the coastlands wait for his law.

What we find in this passage,

going back to Isaiah,

is a picture of the Lord Jesus

that was contrary to the popular expectation

of what the Messiah would be like.

You know,

they expected Jesus,

when he came into Jerusalem,

if he was doing it according to their plan,

he would have been riding on a white charger,

he would have been strong,

and mighty,

and powerful,

and he would have absolutely stomped out

those nasty Romans,

and dealt with all the sin in the world.

You know,

bang!

By the way,

when he comes back the second time,

guess what's going to happen?

It will happen,

right?

When Jesus comes back

to bring his kingdom

and reign,

it is going to be glorious,

and there will be no relaxed kind of,

he is going to come with authority and power.

But this time,

he came,

how?

On a donkey.

Slow,

easy,

gentle.

And as we open up this passage,

we find that

after that grand and glorious announcement

in John chapter 7,

John 7 · chapter mention

I am the one that you can rely on

to give you salvation,

and also to make you a satisfier of other people,

everybody's heard the message

and they go off to go to bed.

Maybe sit around the small little living room

that they had in those ancient homes,

and it was a pretty impressive day

that we had today,

and Jesus was in top form.

Did you notice how he made that wonderful announcement

and blah, blah, blah,

and eventually,

well, good night,

see you tomorrow,

I love you,

blah, blah,

and off they went to sleep.

What did we learn about Jesus?

Look there at Romans 8,

at John chapter 8, verse 1,

John 8:1

but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.

The throng went home.

What did Jesus do?

It says that he went out to the Mount of Olives.

We know from Luke

that Jesus often went to the Mount of Olives.

It was his custom,

is what Luke tells us.

And we know that it was a place of prayer,

and I think it is fair for us to anticipate that,

or to at least speculate,

that one of the things that Jesus did

when he retired to that quiet place

is he spent time in prayer.

But I want you to understand also

that when Jesus went to the Mount of Olives,

he also went there to rest

because he was very human.

And so just imagine that

instead of demanding to be housed

in a spectacular fashion

because he was, after all,

the Messiah and the Lord of hosts,

he goes up,

and as would happen in that ancient culture,

he took the heavy coat that he had,

and he laid down on the ground

and he rested there alone.

That's a profoundly humbling picture

of our Savior, isn't it?

Remember what he said to his disciples

when they said,

well, I'm going to follow you.

He says, let me tell you,

foxes have holes,

birds have nests,

and the Son of Man has what?

Nowhere to lay his head.

Profoundly humble in his ministry.

The next morning as Jesus got up,

it tells us that he came into the temple.

Look at verse 2.

Early in the morning,

he came again to the temple.

All the people came to him.

So I want you to imagine this scene as well.

Here is Jesus.

He's rested for the night.

He gets up early,

and he goes to the temple.

What does he go to the temple to do?

He goes to the temple to do that

which was in his heart

and was for the well-being of God's people.

He said he came there to teach the word.

By the way,

I want you to understand

that it must have been very unnerving

for the scribes and Pharisees

to see Jesus arriving at the temple again

because what they knew

is that people flocked to be around him

to hear his teaching.

Remember in John chapter 7

John 7 · chapter mention

that when the police officers

came back to the Sanhedrin

and said,

Did you bring him?

No.

Nobody ever spoke like he did.

And here's Jesus in humility

coming back into the temple

just quietly,

unassuming spirit,

and he sits down

and he begins to teach.

Isn't that a little different

than a lot of what we see today

in those who are the heavy lifters

in public,

even Christian venues?

So and so will be out on stage

in five minutes.

And here's Jesus kind of wanders in

and sits down at the temple

and just begins to teach.

You see,

you look there at John chapter 8 verse 2

John 8:2

and what you see is Jesus doing

what he loved to do.

He was always invested in gospel ministry.

Everything was tied back

to his ministry,

to the hearts of people.

That was his primary interest.

And I've got to say something

to you this morning.

At the heart of what we are gathered together

this morning to do,

listen to me,

is not kind of endure

sitting here temporarily

thinking that you're going to get points

for showing up.

We are here this morning

to hear and learn

about the character of our Savior

so that our hearts could grow

in our affection for him

and that we,

as a result in growing

in our affection for him,

may be growing to be more like him.

Does that make sense?

Everybody smile.

Look at me for just a second.

Please, please,

look up, look up.

The teaching of the word of God

aims at helping you grow

to be more like Jesus.

Isn't that right?

What does real growth look like?

Let me make this point.

You should be different spiritually

tomorrow than you were today.

Now, there's some of you

that actually,

if you were to put your finger on it,

you're really just as grumpy

and as unhappy today

as you were five years ago.

That's not the problem

of the word of God.

No reason for that.

Jesus came and he taught the word

and in his teaching,

his intent was to see

people's hearts touched

by the hope

and the sweetness

of the gospel.

So in this stage

of Christ's affection for people,

in come the scribes and Pharisees.

You can keep them,

see,

they're dressed well.

How many of you remember

how the scribes and Pharisees dressed?

You know what I mean?

You can kind of pick their rank

by their dress.

Stomping in there.

Here they come.

Look at the scene there

in verse 3.

The scribes and the Pharisees

brought a woman

who had been caught

in a dolpring.

Ah,

this next little piece

is going to help us

see Jesus resisting.

Here he was,

teaching,

unpretentious,

unassuming,

simple in his affection,

and in come these arrogant

self-confidence,

full of them.

How many of you don't like

people who are overly

impressed with themselves?

There's something in us

that resists arrogance.

I mean,

would you agree?

We struggle with it every day.

We look at it in the mirror,

but when we really see it

front and center,

it's like,

I can't take it,

right?

And so here come

the scribes and Pharisees.

Example A

of how not to be.

And they walk right there

in front of Jesus.

And,

by the way,

I thought about this.

How many of you think

they were leading her

gently by the hand?

One Pharisee on one side

and another Pharisee

on the other side.

Why don't you come with us?

We're going to take you

to Jesus now.

I don't think that's

what happened.

In fact,

kind of,

now there's no reason

for actually saying

anything definitively here,

but I can't imagine

that they probably

weren't even holding

on to her.

You know,

I mean,

who,

who of a Pharisee

would hold the hand

of a known adulterer?

By the way,

so that there's

some textual support

for my cautionary thought here,

you'll remember

over in Luke chapter 7,

Luke 7 · chapter mention

I think that's where it is,

739.

Remember,

the Pharisee invites

Jesus to dinner,

and in comes a woman,

and what?

She puts her hands

on the teacher.

And what does,

what does that Pharisee

think to himself?

How many remember?

if he,

if he were a prophet,

he would know

what kind of girl

this is,

right?

Don't be touching me,

you low life.

I don't know for sure,

but they probably

had her roped up

and dragged in there

because,

you know,

they weren't putting

hands on her,

but then they bring her

in front of Jesus,

and they dump her there

in front of Jesus,

and here's what

they have to say.

Teacher,

this woman

has been caught

in the act

of adultery.

Now,

in the law,

Moses commanded us

to stone such a woman,

so,

what do you say?

I can just imagine

the committee meeting

they had.

I'm truthfully,

you know.

I can just imagine

the committee meeting

they had planning

this particular

little trap.

So,

what can we do

with Jesus?

Well,

we've obviously

got to catch him

some kind of

difficult predicament

that is going

to compromise

the respect he has

in our culture,

and so,

well,

how can we do that?

Oh,

well,

why don't we?

And we do know,

verse 6,

they said this

to test him.

Now,

by the way,

test is not,

how many of you

have taken tests

in which you really

know that the teacher

is interested

in you passing?

I suspicioned

that that was

never the case

in my case,

but the truth

of the matter

is that sometimes

I got softballs

and still missed them.

But,

you know,

they were not

interested in Jesus

passing this test.

I know that went

right over top

of some of you.

It never went

over top of me.

But,

here we go.

They were trying

to trap Jesus.

And we know

that from the passage.

There are a couple

things that are

really giveaways

on this.

For one,

we do know

that they did not

bring the man.

Now,

I'm not going to go

into the biological

issues of this,

but I got to tell you

that adultery

is a two-party sport

or a two-party sin.

Let me rephrase that.

We delete that

sport word there,

okay?

It's a two-party sin.

It's something

that you can't do

by yourself

by definition.

Now,

for another,

these scribes

and Pharisees

knew that stoning

for adultery

had not generally

been practiced

in Israel

for over a thousand

years.

Now,

I can't say that

definitively,

but scholars

indicate that

adultery

was a fairly

common problem

in Israel.

Israel.

And if you were

to read back

through the kings

and the prophets,

et cetera,

you will know

that the record

indicates that

Israel was

just about as

wicked as

other groups.

there was another

little piece

that we have

to recognize.

The laws

of Rome,

which at this

time were

actually governing

Israel,

particularly in

relationship to

capital crime,

did not

prescribe

execution

for adultery.

adultery.

And so here

they were,

they were

stepping into

the setting

and they were

saying,

oh,

by the way,

Jesus,

in the law

of Moses,

it says that

those who

commit adultery

should be

stoned.

Oh,

what do you

have to say?

They knew that

if Jesus said,

well,

stoned a girl,

that he would

have been charged

with being the

perpetrator of

the crime.

And if he'd

said,

not in your

life,

they would

have said,

you don't

buy Moses?

The dilemma

is interesting

because here,

obey Moses

or do what

Jewish culture

had been good

doing for a

thousand years

or overstep

Rome and

go ahead.

It's interesting

how Jesus

responded,

right?

In the face

of these

pompous,

self-righteous,

inflated egos,

you can kind

of hear them

snorting,

go ahead.

tell us

what you

think.

They're full

of themselves.

What does

Jesus do?

Did you get

it?

The most

disrespectful

thing,

he doesn't

pay attention.

In fact,

he gets down

and writes

on the ground.

I mean,

do you

understand that

writing in the

dust and not

even looking

at the accuser

is a supremely

offensive thing?

thing.

It's like,

I don't even

have the time

of day to

pay attention

to your

super silly

idea.

Now,

here's a little

cautionary note.

We don't know

what Jesus

wrote in the dirt.

Do you follow

that?

I think it

was Cecil B.

DeMills and

someone can text

me later and

let me know.

I do have my

phone.

But,

stop.

Okay.

I got a text

here that says,

it's currently

25.

You go,

pastor.

Okay,

got it.

That's good.

All right.

I'm ready.

Go.

Okay.

Stop.

Here's the

deal.

You listening?

We don't know

what Jesus

wrote in the

dirt.

All God's

people said,

amen.

Let that be

an instruction

to you.

If it isn't

clear,

don't go

there.

And,

determine not

to add to

scripture.

I don't know

if it was Cecil

B.

DeMills or

whoever it is,

but I remember

seeing the movie

and the guy,

the director,

decided that it

would help me

understand who

Jesus was or

at least what

was going on.

Remember,

if he kind of

wrote in the

dirt and he

put the sins

that they were

committing and

they were

convicted by that.

I'm not convinced

at all that's

what happened.

In fact,

I'm pretty

certain that

didn't happen.

And I'll argue

the case in just

a moment.

But my

caution to you

is this,

is that where

scripture isn't

clear,

be careful,

be cautious,

be disciplined

even in what

you imagine.

So,

now,

notice what he

did.

He wrote in

the dirt,

and then,

as they

continued,

we find him

exposing sin.

As they

continued to

ask him,

he stood up

and said to

them,

let him

who is without

sin among you

be the first

to throw a

stone at

her.

The English

translation,

which says

let,

kind of

misses the

thrust of

this passage,

because what

Jesus is actually

saying is,

all right,

all right,

why don't we

allow,

that's kind of

the idea of

let,

is why don't

we allow

the one

who is without

sin to

throw the

first stone.

Instead of

falling into

the trap

that these

scribes and

Pharisees had

so carefully

put together,

we find that

he turns the

tables on

these men

two ways.

One,

he challenges

them to

actually follow

the law of

Moses and

have the

direct witnesses

!

That's what

he said.

He was

saying,

hey,

listen,

the law

demands that

the witnesses

to the

crime be

directly

involved in

the execution.

And so

here,

these

Pharisees and

scribes had

brought this

woman caught

in the act,

and they're

standing there

saying,

well,

yeah,

should we

stone her?

And Jesus

said,

hey,

why don't

we allow

the person

who's without

sin to

throw the

first stone?

You do

it.

And in

the course

of the

argument,

what Moses'

law clearly

said is

that it's

not just

the woman

who is

guilty of

adultery

and deserves

the penalty.

So the

obvious question

to all those

who are sitting

around,

where's the

man?

Like I

said,

adultery

is not a

solo sin.

Well,

they had

to pass

on that

one.

But there's

another thing

that he

challenged

them to

do,

and that

was to

violate

Roman

law and

put

themselves

at risk.

I've got

to tell

you,

Rome was

not very

passive.

They were,

they were,

listen to me

very carefully

so you

understand this.

We live

in a day

where politicians

are all good

about talking

about things

and not doing

much that really

is of substance.

Do you follow

that?

I mean,

hey,

why don't we

have another

conference about

what to do

about terrorism,

right?

Let's talk

about it.

Rome was

really not

good about

talking more

than single

sentence

statements.

They would

come up to

a city and

say,

hey guys,

would you

like us to

take over

your government

and allow

you to be

subjects of

Rome?

Question.

Answer was

yes,

no.

If the answer

was no,

guess what

happened

to the

city?

It was,

the polite

word was

invested.

They built

a moat

around it

and they

kind of

just starved

it into

submission

and when

they were

absolutely

close to

absolute

disaster,

Rome would

go in there

and slaughter

them.

And those

that they

didn't

slaughter

would be

turned

into slaves.

And the

rumor would

get out

that it

wasn't good

to mess

with Rome.

And so

these Jewish

leaders knew

that anybody

who picked

up the first

stone and

threw it at

this woman

would be

on Rome's

hit list.

I'll pass.

I'll pass.

So how did

this thing

conclude?

You look

there and

it says

this,

he once

more bent

down and

wrote in

the dust.

Was that

a zinger

or not?

Hey,

I'm done.

Go for it.

And so

here's what

happens.

Nine,

and when

they heard

it,

they went

away one

by one

beginning

with the

older ones.

Joe Halsey

can perfectly

appreciate

this verse.

Joe has

been one

of our

younger

deacons.

And one

of the

things that

goes with

the younger

deacon is

that he

gets asked

first many

times.

Isn't

that right,

Joe?

How many

of you know

that the

Sanhedrin,

when they

made decisions,

they always

started with

the youngest.

Now,

what was

the logic

of that?

Does anybody

have an

idea?

When the

gray heads

weighed in

first,

it kind

of influenced

what?

The younger

guys.

And so

they would

work up

the ladder

according to

age.

In this

case,

who got

the memo

first that

they probably

ought not

be throwing

stones?

It was

the old

guys.

This is

not a

winning

proposition.

And they

also

probably,

and this is

speculation,

but they

probably

figured out

if they

had relied

upon normal

Sanhedrin

protocol and

let the

rookies go

first who

were full

of vinegar

at that

moment,

they'd been

picking up

stones and

the whole

mess would

have gone

through,

right?

So the

old guys

say,

I got

that one.

Bye.

I'm gone.

I'm done.

And out

they walked.

So,

I want to

close with

this.

I want you

to recognize

Jesus in

something about

second chances.

How did

Jesus deal

with this

woman?

For one,

he didn't

minimize her

sin.

Nor does

he overlook

our sin.

How do we

know that to

be true?

There in

verse 11,

after Jesus

says,

hey,

where are

they?

Has

no one

condemned

you?

She says,

no one,

Lord.

He says,

neither do I

condemn you.

Go,

and from

now on,

what?

Don't be a

repeat offender.

Don't be a

repeat offender.

And I

can't help

but think of

that passage

that I

recited earlier

in John

John 3:17

chapter 3,

verse 17,

where it

says,

the Son

of Man

did not

come to

condemn,

but that

through him

the world

might be

saved.

Jesus

is in

the

business,

listen to

me carefully,

of offering

you an

opportunity

to repent

for your

sins.

But

offering

you that

opportunity

to repent

is not

the same

as

overlooking

your

sin.

Secondly,

I want

you to

understand

that Jesus

extended

mercy to

this woman,

and he

still extends

mercy.

He's in

the business

of giving

you an

opportunity.

I love

what it

says in

Romans

Romans 2:4

chapter 2,

verse 4,

and I'm

just going

to recite

the passage

just for a

moment.

Here is

the apostle

talking about

God's

patience and

gentleness,

and there's

some of

you sitting

here this

morning.

The truth

of the

matter is

that you

are continuing

to draw

breath even

though you

openly resist

the sweetness

of the gospel.

And do you

know why

you're still

drawing breath?

I'll tell

you.

Not because

I know,

but because

the Bible

says he

is giving

you an

opportunity

to repent.

And by

the way,

the longer

and more

patient he

is in

that

opportunity,

the more

firm will

be your

eventual

dealings.

And so

let me say

this clearly.

Christ's

mercy,

and that's

what we see

here,

calls the

sinner to

repent

into a

new life.

God's

love.

I don't

know what

the heart

is that

you have.

I don't

know if

you're sitting

here this

morning and

you know

Christ as

your Savior,

or it may

be that

you're a

person who

grew up

with all

the vocabulary.

Do you

know what I

mean by

the vocabulary?

You got it

down pat.

But the

truth of the

matter is,

if you were

to die today

and God

were to say,

why should I

let you into

heaven?

You'd say,

well,

I've been a

pretty good

person.

Can I tell

you something?

It would

have been

squandering for

the life of

Christ to

die on the

cross if

you and I

could get

there by

being pretty

good.

What does

the Bible

say?

It says that

there is none

righteous,

no, not one.

There is none

that seeketh

after God.

And God

seeing the

moral bankruptcy

and the

darkness of

our heart

and the ease

with which we

deceive ourselves

sent Christ

into the world

to convict us

of our sin.

and to

bring us to

the point

like the

woman at

the well,

like Zacchaeus,

like the

thief on the

cross,

like the

woman taken

in adultery,

we stand

exposed for

the sinners

that we

really are.

And in

the face

of that

reality,

we cry

out and

say,

I

recognize

my sin

and my

offense

against

a holy

God.

And I

believe

Jesus

died in

my place

and satisfied

my debt

and I

believe in

what he

did for

me.

And I

claim his

promise and

his salvation

and his

power to

live a

different life.

Let's close

in prayer.

Father God,

this morning

as we lift

up the

sweetness

of our

Savior who

came into

the world

to save

sinners,

we are

here this

morning in

one of two

conditions.

There are

some here

this morning

that may

have had

all the

vocabulary,

pounded home

and grown up

in that just

the perfect

environment and

the truth of

matter is

they've never

come to

trust Christ,

break through

the deception

of the enemy

and help them

see their

desperate need

and call upon

the name of

the Lord in

whom alone

is salvation.

There are

others of us

here that know

Christ,

whose hearts

have found

that freedom

and that

forgiveness

and whose

hearts have

been lifted

out of the

miry pit

for the

purpose of

the glory

of the

Lord Jesus

Christ who

is the

Savior of

the world.

Given

His mercy,

given His

kindness,

given the

abundance of

His love,

there is

nothing that

we should

live for

apart from

Him.

We ask

that You

would work

in us to

make that

true.

And where

there is a

need for

repentance,

and for

a change

of direction

and affection,

we ask that

You would do

that to

Your glory.

And we

ask this in

Jesus' name.

Amen.

Let's stand

together as

we close.