The sermon, delivered by Jason Dohm, focuses on John 8:1-11, where Jesus addresses the Pharisees and scribes who brought an adulterous woman to Him for judgment. The key phrase, 'He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first,' highlights the hypocrisy of the woman's accusers and reflects the irony that Jesus, the only sinless one, is making this statement. The sermon draws parallels with Genesis 38, where Judah's hypocrisy is exposed, and connects the law of Moses to the teachings of Jesus, emphasizing that the law is not opposed to Jesus' mission but fulfilled through Him. The sermon also explores the significance of conscience, as the accusers are convicted by their own guilt, leading them to leave without condemning the woman. Jesus' instruction to 'go and sin no more' underscores the concept of true repentance and the transformative power of grace. The sermon concludes with an appeal to self-reflection, urging believers to recognize their own sins and the importance of forsaking them in pursuit of a Christ-like life.

Our sermon text is John chapter 8, 1 through 11. But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Now early in the morning, he came again into the temple, and all the people came to him and sat down, and he sat down and taught them. Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, they said to him, teacher, this woman was caught in adultery in the very act.

Now Moses in the law commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do you say? This they said, testing him that they might have something of which to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with his finger as though he did not hear. So when they continued asking him, he raised himself up and said to them, He who is without sin among you, Let him throw a stone at her first." And again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.

Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had raised himself up and saw no one but the woman, he said to her, woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you? She said, No one, Lord.

And Jesus said to her, Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more. Let's pray. Oh, God, I pray, Lord, that you would help us now as Jason comes and brings your word. Oh God, I pray that you would give him strength, help him to preach with the full authority of the word of God.

Oh Father, I pray that you would help us as a body, help us as families, as individuals. Lord, to not be quick to throw the stone, but to look into our own lives and seek you. Oh Lord God, please bless us now as we enter into this time of hearing your word preached. In Jesus' name, amen. The title of the sermon this morning is, He Who Is Without Sin.

It's a phrase that really brings us to the great irony of the text, which is that there's only one man who's ever lived on the face of the earth who's ever been without sin, and it's the one saying the words here. Jesus is the one who is without sin, from time past to time future. He is the only one who will be able to lay claim to that place. This is from part of the genealogical history of the Lord Jesus. Genesis 38 verses 24 through 26.

It came to pass about three months after that Judah was told saying, Tamar, your daughter-in-law, has played the harlot. Furthermore, she is with child by harlotry. So Judah, the patriarch, the son of Jacob, finds out that his daughter-in-law has engaged in sexual immorality and that she's pregnant from sexual immorality. He gets this report. So Judas said, bring her out and let her be burned." When she was brought out, she sent to her father-in-law saying, �By the man to whom these belong, I am with child.� And she said, �Please determine who these are as the signet and cord and staff.

So I'm picking up in the middle of the account. But what I haven't read is that the signet and the cord and the staff belong to Judah. In this equation of sexual immorality, Judah himself unwittingly has been the other part of this sexual immorality. So Judah acknowledged them and said, she has been more righteous than I, because I did not give her to Sheila, my son, and He never knew her again. She was a widow of his other sons.

He had made the promise that she could marry the son who was still coming of age. He didn't keep that promise. Genesis 38 occurred about 450 years before the giving of the law of Moses. It is not perfectly parallel in every way to our text. What is the same is the anger and the thirst for judgment over sexual immorality that we see in the heart of Judah, calling her forwards to be brought out, drug out of her house, and burned, without any sensitivity whatsoever of his own sin, which was actually worse than her sin, that is parallel to our text.

In Genesis 38, in the heart of Judah, and in John chapter 8, in the heart of these scribes and Pharisees, their guilt is greater than the guilty one in the text. But they are completely insensitive to their guilt until pow! The realization that the condemnation of the one that their hearts are seething against would essentially be self-condemnation before a God who sees all and knows all. If your sins are worse than the person that you're clamoring for justice for, then just understand that their condemnation is your condemnation. In a sense, it is self-condemnation.

Whatever Tamar deserved for her sin, and it was sin. Judah deserved worse. And whatever the adulteress deserved in our text in John chapter 8, her accusers learn that they deserve worse at Jesus' instruction. As we come to our text, let's go to the text in prayer. Jesus, you are so perfectly holy in every way, in all of your words, in all of your thoughts, in all of your deeds, from eternity past to the present through eternity future.

You are light, and in you is no darkness at all. How unlike you we are. We're defiled in every part. We've never done anything that wasn't at best mixed. And yet, you have made a way that we could be clean before you by the laying down of your life.

This leaves us in awe of you and your work and thankful. God, I pray that you would press these things upon our heart and that you would teach us through your Word today. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen. So I'm going to do a very quick walkthrough of our text. And just reading and sort of commenting on things that aren't part of the 11 main points that I'm getting to.

So I'll be stopping periodically to make a comment here or there about smaller things. And then I'd like to bring to your attention 11 points that I'm pulling out of the text this morning. So hopefully your finger is still there. I'm actually going to back up one verse to the last verse of chapter 7, because it belongs with this text. So beginning at John chapter 7 verse 53.

This is on the heels of the chief priests and the Pharisees who are scolding the guards who didn't bring Jesus. They were instructed to take him into custody and to bring him, but they haven't because no one ever spoke like this man. So this is on the heels of that. And everyone went to his own house, but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. I'll pause here just to make a comment.

This reminds us that Jesus deprived himself of many of the comforts that are lawful, and that others enjoyed in order to live the life that God had called him to live. Everyone went to his house and Jesus actually went out to the Mount of Olives. This is actually the pattern that we see in the Gospel accounts. We never read of Jesus spending a night in Jerusalem, But we read on multiple occasions that he taught during the day, or conducted his business during the day, and then at night went out to the Mount of Olives. Actually a lot happens at the Mount of Olives, both teaching and praying and sleeping overnight.

Verse 2, Now early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. Again another pause, this would be customary for rabbis and scribes. In our text we are introduced to scribes. In the NIV it is actually translated teachers of the law, or lawyers. These are actually experts in the law of Moses, who you would consult about hard things in the law.

It was their job to teach the law to the people and to help settle controversies about the law. So rabbis and scribes would meet with their students in the temple courts to teach them. This is what we see Jesus doing. We see him doing it early in the morning. We see that Jesus is both diligent about his ministry and he's fearless.

The day before they were looking to take him into custody, early the next morning he's back right in public in the temple courts teaching publicly. Verse 3, Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, they said to him, Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery in the very act. Now, Moses in the law commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do you say?

This they said, testing him that they might have something of which to accuse him. So here at this point, just another pause to make comment, we get their motive. So why are they doing this? Because they care about the woman and her sins? Because they are wanting to defend the righteousness of God and of the law?

No, because they want to catch Jesus in something that he might say. This is very much like Matthew 22, where they come to Jesus and they ask him, is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar? Is it lawful to pay taxes to this wicked Gentile ruler? And they think they've got him because either way he answers the question, they believe they gain an advantage that can be exploited. This is the exact same thing.

They ask him a question that they believe that either way he answers, they will gain an advantage that they can exploit against him. Either he'll say, yes, Moses is right, she should be stoned, knowing that Jews don't have authority to put to death anyone. We see this in the trial of Jesus, that they have to take him to Pontius Pilate because they don't have the authority in and of themselves. So they're either going to put him at odds with the Romans, or they're going to make him the enemy of family values. Jesus condones adultery.

So they're thinking, Either way he answers, we have him. I'm starting back up in the middle of six. But Jesus stooped down and rode on the ground with his finger as though he did not hear. This is curious. I'm taking a pause to comment again.

There's a lot of ink wasted on speculation about exactly what he was writing. We don't know. If God had wanted us to know, we'd at least have hints in here. We have nothing. Maybe he's just not dignifying this question with a response.

But we don't know. All we know is that This produces time for thinking. We have no idea what he was writing, or if they could even discern what he was writing. This is in the temple courts. This is not like writing on a dirt sandlot.

And so I think it's doubtful that they maybe even could discern what he was writing on the ground with his finger. But in any case, time passes and then they press him in verse 7. So when they continued asking him, he raised himself up and said to them, He who was without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first. So they've asked him, should we do what Moses says we should do? What do you say?

And this is his verdict, he was without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first. Verse 8, and again he stooped down and rode on the ground, more time passing, again we don't know. Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest, even to the last. Just a quick pause there. It is harder to maintain the front of self-righteousness the older you get.

The consciences of the older ones are activated and are bothered sooner, quicker. They leave in shame before the younger guys who haven't been shown the depths of their sin yet. Then those who heard it being convicted by their conscience went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone and the woman standing in the midst." Now remember, this began with him teaching a multitude. It says, all came to him and he taught them.

Well, it doesn't mean everybody on earth, it just means there were a lot of people there. I think there's no reason to think that they're no longer there, but The accusers have all gone. There's not one remaining accuser. In verse 10 now, when Jesus had raised himself up and saw no one but the woman, he said to her, Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?

She said, no one Lord. And he said to her, neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more." Okay, I'd like to bring your attention to 11 points. I hate long lists. I couldn't figure out another way to do it.

So, you're stuck with me in this. Number one, you see on your handout adultery, marriage, Christ, and the church. So if you're filling in blanks on the handout, it's Christ. When you think of adultery, you should think of marriage. Adultery has to do with marriage and violating the marriage covenant.

And when you think of marriage, you should think of Christ and the church. Because of what Paul says in Ephesians chapter 5, you could get this in bits and pieces elsewhere in scripture, but it's most clear in Ephesians chapter 5. Marriage is a picture of Christ and His church. The husband and wife relationship, and the vows that are taken, and the fidelity between them is a picture of Christ and his enduring faithfulness to his people. Well, here's my conclusion from that.

No one has ever had a higher view of marriage, and therefore a more severe view of the ultimate betrayal of the marriage covenant. That's what adultery is. It is the ultimate betrayal of the marriage covenant than the Lord Jesus. So the Lord Jesus Christ has the highest view of marriage, it's higher than yours. He is the bridegroom.

How could your view of marriage be higher than Jesus's? And he has a more severe view of adultery than you have, no matter who you are. Even if you were a scribe or a Pharisee in this text, Jesus would have a more severe view of what adultery is, what it means, and what it deserves than you do. The prophets use the language of adultery all the time in the Old Testament to speak of idolatry. Adultery is figurative language in the Old Testament prophets for the worship of false gods.

Adultery, this treason against marriage, this betraying your marriage partner in the most profound way, is something that is a picture of living in rebellion against a good God and shifting your affections to things that are unworthy. So the prophet sees on the language of adultery to talk about a life in rebellion against God. Spiritual adultery cost Jesus his life. Spiritual adultery brought Jesus voluntarily into the world to live a perfect life and bleed and die on the cross to make a way that we could be saved. So whatever you think of this text, you can't think that someone has a higher view of marriage or is more severe against adultery than the Lord Jesus Christ.

That's impossible. Across the gospels, Jesus repeatedly condemns adultery and he never one time minimizes or excuses it. So that any interpretation of this text that has you believing that Jesus is minimizing or excusing adultery is a wrong interpretation. You have to walk away from that and find another one. So that's number one.

When you think of adultery, you have to think of marriage. When you think of marriage, you have to think of Christ in the church. And that has implications for what Christ is doing in this text and not doing in this text. Number two, the law of Moses is the law of Jesus. If you're filling in blanks, Jesus goes in the blank.

The law of Moses is the law of Jesus. Jesus is the word. Every word of scripture is a word of Christ. So there is no pitting Moses against Jesus. This has been tried all the way going back all the way to the scribes and the Pharisees and it continues to this day.

Don't ever get caught in the position of pitting Moses against the Lord Jesus Christ. Moses was just a conduit for what Jesus was saying. That's it. Jesus speaking through Moses. It is the Mosaic law.

It is Jesus' law. Turn to Matthew chapter 5. Jesus is so clear on this point. Matthew chapter 5, I'll be reading verses 17 through 20. Matthew chapter 5 verse 17, Jesus says, Do not think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets.

I did not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For assuredly I tell to you, for assuredly I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law, till all is fulfilled. Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say to you that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven." Are Christians supposed to do and teach the law of Moses?

Yes! If you break the least of them, you're the least. If you teach others to break the least of them, you're the least. Of course, Jesus does in his work on the cross what the law cannot do. The law could never give life.

The law was never intended to give life. The law was just intended to help you know that you are in desperate need of covering blood. Jesus isn't synonymous with the law, but Jesus is the law giver. I'm not saying that Jesus and the law are equal at every point. I'm saying Jesus is the giver of the law so that he can never be pitted against the law because it's his law.

That was number two. The law of Moses is the law of Jesus. He is the word. Number three, the law of Moses did call for adulterers to die. So die goes in the blank.

The law of Moses did call for adulterers to die. By the way, in the New Testament, the Old Testament is this grim book that says mean things and the New Testament is this really kind book that just gives happiness all the time. In the New Testament, all sinners are supposed to die. The wages of sin is death. All we are talking about is timing.

All we are talking about is when the judgment is rendered and the penalty paid. Lying deserves death, but the civil magistrate isn't supposed to kill liars. That judgment is saved and rendered by God himself. So the law of Moses did call for adulterers to die, but don't think of that in the wrong way as if adultery was some kind of a special sin that deserves sins and these other little sins aren't really treason against God and don't deserve death. No, that's the wrong way to think about it.

There are certain sins that are so devastating to the society in which we live that God, when he gave laws to this nation, he said these particular ones, the penalty would be rendered on the spot, or rendered at that time. But God renders death for sin. And not just the ones that we think are big, but for all sin. We have to think about this rightly. But listen to two places in the Old Testament law that calls for the death of adulterers.

It will be obvious to you what I'm highlighting as I read Leviticus 20 verse 10. The man who commits adultery with another man's wife, he who commits adultery with his neighbor's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death." Or Deuteronomy 22 verses 22 through 24. Listen to Deuteronomy 22 starting in 22. If a man is found lying with a woman married to a husband, then both of them shall die. The man that lay with the woman and the woman.

So you shall put away the evil from Israel. If a young woman who is a virgin is betrothed to a husband and a man finds her in the city and lies with her, then you shall bring them both out to the gate of the city and you shall stone them with stones." If you have adultery, the national laws of Israel called for the stoning of the man and also the woman. You instantly get what the problem is here. They've not brought two people caught in the act of adultery. That's what they say.

We caught her in the act. There can be no dispute about whether she is an adulteress or isn't an adulteress, we caught her in the act, but you only brought one person. How can a person commit adultery with himself or herself? That's not possible. Where is the man?

In fact, in these two texts, in Leviticus 20 and in Deuteronomy 22, the man is mentioned first in the commandment and in the penalty. Does that fit with what we know about male headship? Men who have been given responsibility and authority are given the greater accountability. Let me ask you, fathers, less accountability for sin in the home or more accountability for sin in the home? Does that mean that wives and mothers can't sin?

No. But it means it means something when you're the head in a home. It means something when you're the head in a marriage. It means that you bear the most weight and when there's sin, the most guilt, not the least. And so what we have before us in John chapter 8 is an unthinkable situation.

A woman being brought caught in the act of adultery with the man nowhere to be found. That's unthinkable in Moses' law. But this is not a legitimate legal proceeding about a case of adultery. This is a lynching. This is a test to see whether Jesus will go for mob justice.

And of course he won't. Jesus is teaching disciples in the temple courts. Is this a courtroom? Is Jesus the appointed civil magistrate? Where is the man?

I'm going to latch onto a phrase that James used multiple times in the sermon last week. Point of order, remember? They're having this discussion about why haven't you brought Jesus with the guards. And they're condemning Jesus. They're ready to condemn Jesus.

But Nicodemus says, does our law pass judgment on a man before that man's been heard and what he's doing has been known and of course they brush him off but they also take no further action. They go home. Nicodemus actually sort of stopped that train in the text last week. And his point was, gentlemen, point of order. This is not how our law works.

Where we meet in secret and condemn a man without speaking with him. If the Mosaic Law is anything, it is due process. It is due process. What is happening in John chapter 8 is nothing like due process. One party is trampling on due process according to the Mosaic law.

It's the scribes and the Pharisees. They are trampling on due process. And one party is acting according to due process. He's actually honoring the law of Moses and that party is Jesus. The scribes and the Pharisees are not on the side of the law.

They are no friend to Moses. That was number three. The law of Moses did call for adulterers to die. By the way, that was a good law. How do we know?

Because God gave it. I'm not making any arguments about what we should do in the United States of America in 2018. I'm just saying that if God gave this law to the people that he was in covenant with in Israel, they were his nation. And he gave it. Then it was a good law and a right law.

And we should be careful about walking away saying something different than that. Number four, the law, by the way, just to finish that point, anybody want to live in a place where nobody really cares about adultery? Anybody want to live in that culture where marriage is thought so little of? And if your neighbor has your wife, it's no big deal. I don't want to live in that place.

I don't think any of us want to live in that place. Number four. And we're starting to live in that place. And That should make us tremble. Number four, seriously.

The law of Moses called for false accusers to receive the penalty they sought for the innocent. So it's false. The law of Moses called for false accusers to receive the penalty they sought for the innocent. In other words, if you falsely accused for someone, what you were hoping would happen to that person was to happen to you. Now listen to this.

This is Deuteronomy 19 verses 15 through 19. Listen to this, Deuteronomy 19 verses 15-19. Deuteronomy 19, 15-19. One witness shall not rise up against a man concerning any iniquity or any sin that he commits. By the mouth of two or three witnesses the matter shall be established.

If a false witness rises against any man to testify against him of wrongdoing, then both men in the controversy shall stand before the Lord, before the priests and the judges who serve in those days. And the judges shall make careful inquiry, and indeed if the witness is a false witness who has testified falsely against his brother, then you shall do to him as he thought to have done to his brother. So you shall put away the evil from among you." First of all, due process is all over that. Not one witness, but two or three witnesses. Judges who make a careful inquiry.

Penalties for false witnesses. So that if I accused you of something that was worthy of the death penalty if I was found guilty of it, and you were found to actually be falsely accusing me, I was innocent, but you were trying to nail me with the death penalty, then you were to receive the death penalty. That's what Deuteronomy 19 is saying. Now, these are people who have been desiring and intending and planning to kill Jesus since John chapter 5. Is Jesus innocent or guilty?

He's innocent. He's innocent in every way his whole life. Jesus is sinless. If there was ever false accusation where the penalty that you intended should come back on your own head, it was with Jesus. This doesn't have anything to do with the woman.

She was caught in adultery. She is not an innocent party. But it does have to do with Jesus and his accusers. They are desiring and intending and planning to kill Jesus by false accusation they actually are the ones in this scenario worthy of death. Well if it's that way in a Jewish courtroom that false accusers deserve the penalty that they've been seeking, it's the same in God's courtroom.

Turn to Romans chapter 2. Romans chapter 2, I think, Paul lays this bare. In Romans chapter 2, he really gets at something important from our text. Romans chapter 2. Paul's going right at the Jews in Romans chapter 2.

The Jews who are so ready to condemn everyone else, Paul goes right at them in Romans chapter 2. I'm going to read verses 1 through 3, and then I'm going to skip and I'll tell you where I'm skipping to. Romans chapter 2 verses 1 through 3. Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge. For in whatever you judge another, you condemn yourself.

For you who judge practice the same things, but we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who practice such things. And do you think this, O man, you who judge those practicing such things and doing the same, that you will escape the judgment of God. Now skipping to verse 17, I'll read 17 through 24. Indeed, you who are called a Jew and rest on the law and make your boast in God, and know His will, and approve the things that are excellent being instructed out of the law, and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, having the form of knowledge and truth in the law. You therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself?

You who preach that a man should not steal, Do you steal? You who say, Do not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who make your boast in the law, do you dishonor God through the breaking of the law? For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you as it is written.

Verse 23 is really the summary of the matter of what Paul is teaching. You who make your boast in the law, do you dishonor God through the breaking of the law? That's exactly what's happening in John chapter 8. Men who boast in the law, scribes, teachers of the law, lawyers, experts in the law, and Pharisees, the ones who had a reputation for being law keepers, dishonor, actually dishonored the law. They made their boast in the law, but they dishonored the law through the breaking of the law.

That's number four. The law of Moses called for false accusers to receive the penalty they sought for the innocent. And that means for these men who have been seeking to kill Jesus, this is using the law to kill Jesus. They want to kill Jesus legally, and in six months time That's exactly what they'll do. They'll misuse the law, abuse the law in order to kill an innocent man.

Number five. People with logs in their own eyes are not the ones to deal with the specks in the eyes of others. So if you're filling in blanks, it's logs. You have a log jutting out of your eye. You're not the one to deal with a person who has a speck of dust in their eye.

Turn to Matthew chapter 7. Matthew chapter 7. This is Jesus teaching in the Sermon on the Mount. Matthew chapter 7, I'll be reading verses 1-5. Jesus says, Judge not that you be not judged.

For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged. And with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, let me remove the speck from your eye and look, a plank is in your own eye. Hypocrite.

First, remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye. This is easily interpreted that no one can ever confront another for sin. Judge not, lest you be judged. It's sort of an unspoken, unholy alliance. You don't say anything about my sin, I don't say anything about your sin.

Because we both know we're sinners, so I won't talk about yours and you won't talk about mine. Jesus is not teaching that, of course. On closer inspection, you see that the point is that you deal with the plank or the log in your own eye. That self-inspection and self-condemnation comes first. You deal with your sins, which are greater, before you concern yourself with the lesser sins in your brother.

That's the whole point of this. Not that no one ever confronts anybody about sin. If you think that's what Jesus is teaching here, you're going to have a hard time making sense out of the rest of the New Testament. It's not going to make any sense. The point is, our starting place is our own hearts and our own sin, and there's a lot of work there.

You better make sure that you have been busy about it before you go to your brother to try to help him with his sins which may very well be even less significant than your own. Listen to what Jesus says in Matthew 23 verses 27-28. It's the chapter of woes where he's pronouncing these condemnations against the Jewish leaders. This is Matthew 23 verses 27-28. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees.

That's exactly who we have in our text, by the way. Scribes and Pharisees who've come to ask this question of Jesus. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites. For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. Even so, You also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness." You've been to a funeral.

Some of the most beautiful, exquisite pieces of furniture that you'll ever see are caskets. People spend thousands and sometimes tens of thousands of dollars on these beautiful, intricately carved and worked pieces of wood. They're gorgeous, only there's a dead body inside. And Jesus is saying, you scribes and Pharisees, you're like that. You're all cleaned up on the outside.

You're respectable. You pat each other on the back, it all looks beautiful on the outside, but I see into your hearts and it's like the inside of a casket with a rotting dead body. These are the last people who should be dragging someone into the public square and insisting on a stoning. The last people. I was astonished to read this week, last week, about how prevalent adultery was among the Jews during Jesus' time.

We think of this time, well, they were moral, They might not have had saving faith, but they were moral. You know what? When people don't have saving faith, they might clean up on the outside, but they're a mess. That was true during Jesus' time. Here's what John Gill said.

I was very interested to read John Gill because he's an expert on the rabbis and what they've written, especially during the time of Jesus. John Gill says this, the Jews have also a saying that if all adulterers were punished with stoning according to the law, the stones would be consumed, but they would not be consumed. John Gill is referencing a saying during the time of Jesus among the Jews that if you went to stone all the adulterers you'd run out of stones but you wouldn't run out of adulterers. It was commonplace. Adultery was commonplace, but stoning for adultery was all but unheard of during the time of Jesus.

But now, They want to know what he wants to do with this woman. The whole thing is so disingenuous from start to finish. When you read the account and you're disgusted, you're on the right track. That was number five. People with logs in their own eyes are not the ones to deal with specs in the eyes of others.

Number six. Number six is really an important counter to number five, which is Administration of law does not require sinless magistrates. You're filling in blank sinless. Administration of law giving out the due penalty does not depend on finding a sinless magistrate. Well that's a good thing.

Good luck finding one of those. Listen to Romans 13 verses 1 and 4. Romans 13 verse 1, let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God, skipping to four. For he is God's minister.

The authority that's been appointed by God is God's minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. Civil magistrates stand in the place of God to render God's justice on earth. So, who was in power when Paul wrote this letter? When Paul writes, Let every soul be subject to the governing authority, for there is no authority except from God and the authorities that exist are appointed by God, Nero was Caesar. He might be the most wicked of all the Caesars and that is quite a distinction.

And Jesus subjected himself to such authorities. Jesus, who could have called down twelve legions of angels to save him, subjected himself to authorities, even unrighteous authorities. So an official civil magistrate is required to administer the law, though that civil magistrate will always be a perfect sinful person. But it's not mob justice. It's an appointed authority.

And multiple witnesses willing to cast the first stone are required. This is an important part that relates to the text. You have to have multiple witnesses. We read that in Deuteronomy 19. Not one witness, not one accuser, but two or three accusers.

But we find out in Deuteronomy 17 that they have to be witnesses willing to cast the first stone. They have to be witnesses who are willing to lead in the execution. Listen to Deuteronomy 17 verse 7. The hands of the witnesses shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hands of all the people. So you shall put away the evil from among you." This is really just a stroke of genius and justice.

You don't have the execution of a penalty until you until you have witnesses that are willing to throw stones. You would think twice before being such an accuser, before being such a witness. If you knew that your witness required that you lead the execution, that you throw the first stone. So Jesus calls these scribes and Pharisees, he doesn't say no, no one can stone her, he says the ones without sin, you be the witnesses to throw the first stones. You be the accusers to carry out this justice that you're calling for.

He really puts it right back into their own lap. Number seven, Jesus was the master of strategic silence. You're filling in blanks, strategic silence. I don't understand about the gap in time where Jesus said nothing and wrote with his finger on the ground. I cannot explain it.

I guess I didn't study hard enough. But you'll notice that the silence was not the inability to say anything. It was strategic and it actually produced profound results. It's hard to miss these strange silences in the text, but this is not the only time. In Matthew chapter 15, Jesus is approached by a gentile woman whose daughter is demon possessed and she asks for mercy and for him to cast the demons out of her daughter.

And in Matthew 15 verse 23 we read, but he answered her not a word. She is begging for mercy for her demon possessed daughter. It says that she was severely demon possessed and he won't say a word. As we read the text, and in the end, he does grant what she's asking for, but it's after multiple appeals from this patient woman, in the end we see that his silence was testing her faith, and that her faith passed with flying colors. He ends up by saying, your faith is great, and he does heal her daughter.

But he uses the silence to test her faith, to See whether it is a humble, dependent, trusting faith or something else. In Matthew 26, Jesus is questioned by the high priest. In verse 63 We read, but Jesus kept silent. He's being questioned by the high priest with his life on the line And he kept silent in the next chapter in Matthew 27. He's before Pontius Pilate and In verse 12 verse 12 through 14 is this And while he was being accused by the chief priests and elders, he answered nothing.

Then Pilate said to him, Do you not hear how many things they testify against you? But he answered him not one word. So that the governor marveled greatly. This silence of Jesus had an impact on Pilate. The point is, the only perfectly wise man didn't always answer.

There were times where the only perfectly wise man thought that it was wisest to not speak at all. To let time pass without words and his silences had great effect. In thinking about this, it made me think about me and how much pressure I feel to say things when sometimes everything might be better served by silence. You might have a greater impact. You would speak less, let time pass, Let people think.

Their consciences worked while Jesus waited without talking. You see that in this text. In the different silences that are referenced, I think there are different reasons behind the silences. Well, in this case, clearly, he was giving their consciences time to work, because he says what he says, and then he stoops down again, and he doesn't say anymore, and he is riding on the ground and their consciences are working while he's not speaking. Number eight.

Though dulled and diminished by sin, the conscience lives on in every person. So it's conscience. Children, if you're spelling, con, c-o-n, science, like what you study during the week, con science. Conscience. Though dulled and diminished by sin, the conscience lives on in every person.

Listen to Paul in Romans 2 verses 14 and 15. Paul explains conscience in Romans 2, 14 through 15. Paul says, For when the Gentiles who do not have the law, by nature do the things in the law, these, though not having the law, are a law to themselves, who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves, their thoughts accusing or else, excusing them. Paul looks at the Gentiles who didn't have the benefit of the written law, but he sees that the law is written on their hearts. In other words, they do have an inborn sense of right and wrong.

That is universal no matter where you see in the world. It might have been twisted and warped, but at the base of it is a basic sense of right and wrong, which is the law of God written on the heart. God has left himself a testimony, even in the hearts of people who have never picked up a Bible in their lives. And their consciences bear witnesses when they sin. Accusing them, sometimes accusing or else excusing them.

Here's what J.C. Ryle says, Fallen and corrupt as man is, we must never forget that God has left him a certain sense of right and wrong called conscience. It has no power to save or convert or lead to Christ. But it has a power to accuse and prick and witness and so often God uses it. Your conscience won't save you.

It doesn't have the power to do that. But your conscience has the power to awaken awareness of your sinfulness and of your need. I should be using this from the pulpit. I should be using this truth knowing that the law of God is written on your heart. Yes you have it on your hand but you have an innate sense of right and wrong and I should be appealing to it out of the pulpit.

Moms and dads, we should know that all of our children, no matter the age, no matter who they are, what they're tangled up in in the moment, in their hearts, The law of God is written on it and we should be appealing to it, making use of it. Of course Jesus is able to activate it in a way that we can't. Jesus is not taking a risk in John chapter 8 wondering if their consciences will kick in. He is a God. He can kick in your conscience.

He obviously kicks in the consciences of these accusers of the woman who was caught in adultery. Matthew Henry says this, It is folly for those that are under convictions to get away from Jesus, as these here did. For He is the only one that can heal the wounds of conscience and speak peace to us. Matthew Henry is saying this, they shouldn't have run away from Jesus, they should have run to Jesus. He was the only one that could heal them for the wounds that their consciences were giving them.

When our consciences prick us, we must run to the Lord Jesus, not away from the Lord Jesus. These were wicked men who couldn't deal with their sins being brought before their eyes, and so they fled. We cannot afford to be like that. When God activates our consciences, and we know that we're wrong, not away from Christ, to Christ, running to Christ for mercy and restoration and a new start. Number nine.

In the law of Moses, if there were no accusers and or no witnesses, there was no case. So if you're filling in blanks, case. That's where we're left in the text. We got no case. In the law of Moses, if you're out of accusers and you're out of witnesses, if you don't have those, there's no case.

We do not have a civil magistrate there. We do not have one accuser. We do not have one witness there except for Jesus. He's fit to be any of them. He's fit to be the civil magistrate, he is the king of kings and the Lord of lords.

He is fit to be the accuser. He is the law giver and he can prosecute this case. He is fit to be the stone throwing witness. He knows all things. There is a sense in which Jesus Christ by His Spirit was there also when the adultery was committed.

Number ten. Number nine brings us right into number ten. Jesus came the first time to redeem. He is coming again to judge. So there's two blanks.

First is redeem, second is judge. Jesus came the first time to redeem. That was his mission the first time. That's why he's not a civil magistrate here in the temple courts in John chapter 8. He is coming again to judge.

Listen to what he said to Nicodemus in chapter 3 verse 17. Jesus to Nicodemus in John chapter 3 verse 17. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. The mission of the incarnation was the salvation of sinners. Jesus didn't come to lead the stoning of this woman and to be that kind of judge among men in his first coming.

He is coming to be exactly that in his second coming. So when we read John 3.17, for God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, It's not that the world didn't deserve condemnation. It richly deserved condemnation when he came the first time. In fact, that is exactly the why behind the mission of the incarnation. Because the world did deserve condemnation.

The Word became flesh. Jesus took on our humanity in order to make a way that we would not all have to be justly condemned. Matthew 10 28 Jesus says this, Matthew 10 28, and do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul, but rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Now think of how this relates to what Jesus says to the woman. They've established there are no accusers, no one her accusers are gone, no one has condemned her.

And Jesus says, neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more. Now think about how that relates to what he says in Matthew 10 28 do not fear those who killed the body But cannot kill the soul, but rather fear him who was able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Lady, rock throwing scribes and Pharisees is the least of your problems. There are worse things, worse things than being executed for your crimes. There is a hell that extends out through all eternity.

If you are not covered by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, you will be there forever and ever and ever and ever. Don't fear these men who can kill your body. Fear the Holy God who can cast your soul into eternal hell with complete justice. You know God will be completely just when he does that. No one will ever be able to accuse Him as if He's done wrong when He does that.

That Jesus came as a Redeemer does not necessarily mean that I am redeemed. Yes, He did come. It is a glorious truth. He did come. He has shed His blood.

He has made a way. You know, you must repent and believe the Gospel. There's nothing automatic about the death of Jesus Christ that applies His blood to people who will not repent and follow Jesus. This is so much like the crippled man who Jesus healed in chapter 5. Listen to what Jesus said to him in John chapter 5 verse 14.

Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, See you have been made well, sin no more, lest a worse thing come to you. You know how you were just a cripple for 38 years? Break off from your life of sin so that something worse than that doesn't happen to you. That should strike you with awe. Jesus is coming a second time.

And those who have not been washed clean by His blood will get what their sins deserve. Think of that. Think of getting what your sins deserve. Do you know anything of this God and His complete and utter holiness, How He cannot even look upon sin. Think about getting what your sins deserve.

This tells us something of true repentance. People who truly repent bear fruit worthy of repentance. I'm going to say that again. People who truly repent who aren't just faking it, who really repent, repent just means turn around and go in the other direction. People who really turn around and go in the other direction, they break off from their life of sin.

Does it mean they never sin again? No. But it means they hate their sin, and they're growing in obedience. They bear fruit worthy of repentance. There's proof, there's evidence that they've actually repented.

Listen to Proverbs 28 verse 13. Proverbs 28 verse 13. He who covers his sin will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy. In the modern environment it has become whoever confesses his sin will have mercy. Just say the magic words.

I sin, I acknowledge that I am a sinner. You don't have to forsake your sin at all. You can just confess it. You can just feel something. You can just shed tears and the mercy of God is upon you.

That is not Scripture. That is not the testimony of Scripture. Proverbs 28-13 says, whoever confesses and forsakes these sins will have mercy. We cannot afford to have a repentance that is missing the forsaking of sin. As if the confession of sin were somehow magically drew forth the mercy of God upon you.

Number 11. This just might have been the best day of this woman's life. You're filling in blanks, best day of this woman's life. Imagine being in her position and the humiliation and terror to be drug out in front of a multitude with your life hanging in the balance and in any case the best case, the best case she goes away in utter shame and disgrace. But consider Mark 2 verse 17.

Mark 2 verse 17. When Jesus heard it, he said to them, Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance." Here, Jesus is calling a sinner to repentance. And you don't want to read too much into this. You don't have an expression of saving faith anywhere here.

My guess is we'll see this adulteress, this former adulteress in heaven. That's my guess. But I can't prove it from the text and neither can you. So don't presume too much on the text. But what you do know is this.

There is a woman who if she didn't feel her sins before now, she feels them now. And she encounters Jesus, the fountain of living waters. And he calls her to repentance. It's hard to think that she didn't repent. In Matthew 21 verse 31, Jesus says to the chief priests and the elders, Assuredly I say to you that tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before you.

They're entering and you're staying out. To these outwardly righteous people whose boast was in the law and yet they dishonored God in their hearts by the breaking of the law and inflow the tax collectors and the harlots. Maybe this was one of them. Applications. I'm way over time so I'll go fast.

I only have two. Number one, can you see your sins? Blindness, spiritual blindness to sin is fatal. Can you feel the weight of your sins? Or do you see the sins of others so very clearly, but yours get minimized?

Trivialized. Excused. This is such a disease. To see so clearly the sins of others. Oh, but you can explain away your own.

How are you different than the scribes and the Pharisees if that's you? Number two. Do you have a darling sin that you won't forsake? That's a Rialism. He speaks of darling sins.

You know what that means. A darling. My darling. No one knows, but you're nurturing it in secret. You're minimizing it.

You're making excuses for it. You're hiding it and treating it like a friend when it may be murdering your soul. The call from Jesus in the text is so clear. Break off with your life of sin. Forsake your life of sin.

Does that mean we'll be sinless? I've already said it. Of course not. You already knew it before I said it. You know there's no sinless perfection this side of heaven.

But you know there is growth in grace and growth in obedience. And if there's not, there's real trouble in your heart. God, thank you for the text. Thank you for your patience with sinners that you don't render what to do at the time that is due. So often, providentially, we get more time to repent.

This is such a kindness and a mercy. Pray that we would make use of it. We would break off with our rebellion against you. We would grow in grace and grow in obedience. I pray that you would help us by working of your spirit in our hearts.

In Jesus' name, Amen.