Sign Guestbook

View Guestbook

Copyright © 2006, 2007, 2008
All Rights Reserved.

Campbell Chapel
Free Will Baptist Church
1709 Campbell Drive
Ironton, Ohio 45638

Contact Webmaster

 

Leave the Judging to Jesus

August 1, 2007

 Bob Bradley

_________________________ 

John 8:1-11

 

1 Jesus went unto the mount of Olives.

2 And early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came unto him; and he sat down, and taught them.

3 And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst,

4 They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act.

5 Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou?

6 This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not .

7 So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.

8 And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground.

9 And they which heard it , being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.

10 When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee?

11 She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.

 

As you read chapter seven, and the other chapters you will find out that the scribes and the Pharisees were the religious leaders.  They claimed to be religious and they were religious, but they knew nothing about God.  Religion and righteousness many times do not go together.  They should, but they don't.  These people were very religious.  The scribes had wrote and re-wrote the law of Moses to suit the Pharisees and the elders. 

 

Here is the crowd again.  If you read in chapter seven, there had been a division among the people about Jesus. 

 

This was probably around the time of the feast of tabernacles.  The city of Jerusalem probably had tens of thousands of people in the city.  Jesus told them that, “…if any man thirst let him come unto Him and drink.”  That caused a great division among the people there.  The last verse of chapter seven says:

 

53 And every man went unto his own house.

 

After the discussion or division, that Jesus had caused, because He said He could give men water if they were thirsty.  The Bible says that after some time and discussions that every man goes unto his own house. 

 

I thought about that many times over the years, but especially today as I was reading and thinking today.  Nicodemus probably was wealthy man and we know that he became a follower of Jesus Christ.  We know in this crowd that there were people that had all kinds of room in their houses.  However, they went to their houses while Jesus had no house to go to. 

 

The Bible says:

 

1 Jesus went unto the mount of Olives.

 

People went unto their houses but Jesus goes to the Mount of Olives.  When you read the scriptures, you will find that Jesus spent a lot of time here at the Mount of Olives.  He could spend time alone with His disciples and He could spend time alone with God. 

 

That should be a lesson for you and I.  There are going to be times in my life and in your life that things are not always going to go good.  There are going to be times in my life and in your life that people are going to oppose what we do.  There are going to be times that in my life and in your life, that it seems like everybody has forsaken us.  Sometimes that may be the case. 

 

We need to learn that my salvation and my security are not in people.  My security and my salvation are in Jesus Christ.  We need to learn that.  When the entire world is crumbling, when people are forsaking us, when people are running off and leaving us, and when it seems like people use and even abuse us, we need to remember that we are not going to be standing before people; we are going to be standing before Almighty God.  Glory to God for that.

 

The religious crowd was Jesus' greatest enemy.  They were the people that went to synagogue every Saturday.  The people that wore their long robes, prayed in the street corners, and loved to have people to pat them on the back telling them how great they were.  These were the people who caused Jesus so much trouble. 

 

In the last thirty some years that I have been saved, the greatest problem that I have had has been with religious people.  It has not been with the world out here.  It has not been with people that was not saved.  However, the greatest problems that I have are with people that are "so-called" Christian people.  Not everybody that comes to church is going to heaven. 

 

Jesus goes to the Mount of Olives.  We know that many times, He has prayed here.  Many times, he spent time alone here praying with His disciples and alone.  The Bible says that the next morning:

 

2 And early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came unto him; and he sat down, and taught them.

 

First, it was early in the morning.  He was going to the temple.  That was what His life was all about.  His life was all about teaching people the truth.  Everything that He did while here on planet earth was to tell people and to teach people that God loved them and that He, being Jesus Christ, was the Son of God, and that He came here to save them.  He wanted to teach people the truth. 

 

The Bible says that He gets up early in the morning and goes to the temple.  Keep in mind that there are hundreds of thousands of people here and He is sitting in one of the outer courts in the temple area.  He is teaching the people.  Everywhere that Jesus Christ went there were people that wanted to hear what He had to say.  Everywhere that He went, there were some there that the Gospel got a hold of.  When He spoke and when He taught, there were people who were hungry and thirsty wanting to hear what He had to say.  This early, this morning was no different.  He was there early in the morning to tell people and to teach people about God. 

 

That should be something for you and me to learn.  I know that sometimes we have to work hard, but it would do us a whole lot of good instead of sleeping all day that we would get out of bed sometimes and spend some time alone with God.  The morning is a great time to spend alone talking to God, before the phone starts ringing, and before the kids starts screaming.  It is great to be alone with Almighty God. 

 

He is going to be teaching people here early in the morning.  No doubt, there are hundreds and maybe even thousands of people around where He is.  He is teaching and He is talking. 

 

3 And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst,

 

Look what happens here.  The sister mentioned about reading her Bible.  If you think that you can get close to God, if you think that you can read, study, pray, and cut off some things in your life that you do not need when the Word of God shows us, if you think that we can do that without the enemy trying to discourage us, you are wrong.  The enemy will discourage us anytime we start trying to get closer to God.  When people wants to hear the Word of God, do you think that the enemy is just going sit by, here at Campbell Chapel, where God continues to bless and we continue to grow; do you think that he is just going to sit by and do nothing.  He is not going to do that.  I am glad of one thing today.  When people listen to the voice of God and when we live as we should live, Greater is He that is in us than He that is in the world.  The enemy cannot stop the work of Almighty God. 

 

We listen to the wrong voice.  We start down the wrong road and many times, we allow the enemy to use us to frustrate the plan of God.  God has a plan and God is going to carry it out with us, or without us.  I want to be part of it.  Don't you?

 

Here He is teaching people.  Do you think the enemy is just going to sit by and let Him teach people here?  No.  Here comes the religious crowd.  Picture this scene.  Jesus is in the outer court of the temple with hundreds or thousands of people here.  He is teaching people and people are soaking up the Word of God.  Now here comes the religious crowd, the scribes and the Pharisees.  I picture them coming with this lady/woman.  They probably were not being easy with her.  They probably was not patting her on the back and said, “come on over here, we need to talk to Jesus.”  If in my mind what I think is right, they probably were mistreating her.  They probably were dragging her along.  From the time that they got her, from where that she was at, until the time that they got here to where Jesus is at, she probably was kicked a few times.  She had been mishandled a few times.  Her hair was not all in place and her clothes were not all fitting just right.  Here they come dragging this lady. 

 

Before you start jumping on the bandwagon with the Pharisees, about this dear lady, you might want to think about your own life for a minute.  You might want to think about your own situation just for a moment here.  When we look at situations like this in the scripture, we want to condemn people real quick, but there is no room for us to do that. 

 

They come with this woman.  They are coming up here to trap Jesus Christ.  They are tempting Him.  They are going to put Him to the test.  They are going to see what He would say.  The Bible says that they drag her up here and throw her down in the midst before this crowd.  How do you think she felt? 

 

First of all, Jesus stops what He is doing.  Because if I was up here teaching tonight, and a crowd of people comes in the back door making some commotion, you all would quit listening to me to see what is going on back there.  There is no doubt that is what happens here.  Jesus was teaching and the crowd hears a commotion.  They turn around to see them coming dragging this lady.  They come up here and throw her down in the midst of all these people.  Their accusation is this:  "We have caught this woman right in the act of adultery.  What do you say?"  We have caught her right in the act of adultery.  Moses in the law commanded that she should be stoned but we want to know what you say? 

 

How would you feel if you were this lady?  Would you be humiliated?  I guarantee you this dear lady felt horrible and was embarrassed about what was going on and about everybody knowing her situation.  We could say a lot about that but we don't have much time, but remember something.  Here this lady is, here the religious group is, and here is Jesus Christ.  The Bible says:

 

4 They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act.

5 Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou?

 

There was some truth here in what they were saying.  If you read the book of Leviticus chapter 20, we know that the law said that the adulterer and the adulteress both were to be stoned.  That's what the law said.  That is truth.  We know that is what the Bible said.  We know that is what the law of God gave to Moses said that when an adulterer and an adulteress were found, that they were to be stoned to death.  If we would read as a church, as a world, as a nation and believe just what Leviticus chapter 20 says, this world would be a lot better place to live today. 

 

Here they said that Moses commanded this woman to be stoned.  Jesus knew exactly what the law said.  They said that we know this is what the law said, but we want to know what you say.  We want to know what you think.  We want to know what you are saying here.  The Bible says:

 

6 This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not .

 

He hears what they say and He just stoops down and begins to write upon the ground.  Did you ever think about why He did that?  Now I don't know why He did that and you don't either.  The best minds that ever lived don't know why He wrote on the ground.

 

The law was written by the finger of God.  Here He is down on the ground writing.  That could have been reminding them of some things. 

 

Jeremiah 17:13

 

13 O LORD, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living waters.

 

I don't know what He was writing.  However, the scribes and the Pharisees were hypocrites in that they could see this woman's sin but they could not see their own sin.  They could see what the law said on her but they could not see their own hypocrisy in their own lives. 

 

Jesus begins to write on the ground.  Although I do not know what He wrote, He could have been writing about some of the escapades that some of the Pharisees and the scribes had been having here.  He could have been writing about some of the secret sins that they thought no one else knew anything about; He could have been writing it in the ground.  There are some things that happened that got their attention and I think that it is more than when He said, "...He that is without sin among you..."  I think that they were able to see some things that He was writing here on the ground that brought back some things to their mind, "Hey, this guy knows more about me than what I thought He knew about me."  He writes on the ground as though He hears them not. 

 

7 So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.

 

Jesus has said something here that I want you to get.  The Pharisees and the scribes are condemning this lady.  This is the accusation that they are saying they have taken her right in the very act of adultery.  The adulterer, the man, is not in the picture here.  He could have got away, but I don't know where he ended up at.  However, they could have been just making this story up anyway.  The Bible says that as they continued asking, Jesus just raised up and said, "He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her."  You that are sinless, that has never committed sin, that is perfectly righteous, here is the stone and you can cast the first one at her.  Jesus knew all about them.  He knew about their sin.  He knew that they were just human people. 

 

Do you know what was happening here?  They wanted to condemn this lady.  They wanted her to be stoned.  They could see the sin of adultery in this lady but they could not see the sin of hypocrisy in their own lives.

 

Today, people mess up.  Good people mess up.  It happens.  Don't be so self-righteous that you think that you have it all figured out that you cannot fall because when you get that far lifted up in pride you are about ready to hit the dust. 

 

I know that the grace of God is sufficient.  I know that He will keep that which has been committed unto Him against that day.  I know all that but I also know that pride goes before a fall.  When I get exalted in myself, when I can see other peoples sin but I cannot see my own sin then I am getting in bad shape. 

 

These people could see the sin of this lady, but they could not see their own sin.  Jesus knew all about them.  He knew that they were corrupt.  Jesus knew all the things that they did.  He says here, "He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her." 

 

8 And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground.

9 And they which heard it , being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.

 

It is easy for us to point out the sins of other people.  It is easy for us to jump on the bandwagon and to condemn other people.  We should throw them out.  We should kill them.  That is easy for us to do that.  However, I would not jump on that bandwagon if I was you.  Because the same stick that, you are going to measure them by, you are going to be measured by the same stick one of these days and you are not going to like it. 

 

When Jesus said, "...He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her."  Maybe some of the things that He wrote on the ground, maybe some things He said but something touched these guys hearts.  The Bible says that they were convicted by their own consciences.  These guys begin to understand that this guy knows more about us than what we thought He knew.  They start leaving from the oldest to the youngest.  The Bible says that Jesus was standing there and this woman in the midst.  It is just her and Jesus. 

 

I heard a very intelligent person today, or by the world's standard is intelligent, but she really does not know straight up.  The question was about religion and about having a personal relationship with God.  

 

I am glad that if I have a relationship with God that it is a personal relationship with Him.  It is one on one with God.  What she was trying to say though is that is was a universal thing.  She was taking the personal relationship out of it.  If I know God today as my Savior, then I know Him personally and you do too. 

 

10 When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee?

 

Here they are just Jesus and this lady.  Everybody else is gone.  Jesus simply says, "...Woman, where are those thine accusers?  hath no man condemned thee?" 

 

She says, "...No man, Lord..."  "And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more." 

 

What happens here is Jesus looks at her and says, "...where are those thine accusers?"  He knew that if someone was going to be a judge that they have to be sinless.  He knew that the crowd that was there did not meet that qualification.  Jesus was telling this woman, "I am the only one that can condemn you, because I am God.  I am sinless.  I am the only one that has a right to condemn you." 

 

Jesus did not come to condemn the world, but He come to save the world. 

 

When Jesus said, "...Woman, where are those...accusers?"  "She said, No man, Lord..."  Then Jesus said, "...Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more." 

 

Jesus was not condoning adultery.  He was not saying that adultery was all right.  He was not saying that sin is all right.  Repentance precedes Salvation.  What that means is that if there is no repentance then there is no salvation.  He says, "...go, and sin no more..."  If she was going to continue in this lifestyle that she had, if she actually was committing these things, then her life was not going to change any.  He says quit sinning. 

 

I am glad today that when Jesus Christ comes in and cleanses us that sin is gone.  He does not save us while we are in our sins.  He saves us from our sins.  There has to be repentance.  There has to be a change in the way that we are doing things.  If there is no change then there is no Jesus.  Jesus said, “I am not going to condemn you either, go and sin no more.” 

 

Let us not judge people.  Let us not be judgmental toward people.  Let us leave the judging up to the one that is just, and that is Jesus Christ.  Let us not look down our noses at people when they fail, when they stumble, or when they are tripped up in sin. 

 

We have no right to condemn anybody.  Do you know why?  Because I am a sinner and you are too. We may be saved, but we are not sinless people.  Jesus Christ is sinless.  Let us leave the judging up to Him.  Let us leave the condemning up to Him.

 

 Back • Up • Next

|  Home |  Pastor  |  Sermons  |  Testimony |  Salvation  |  Sunday School  |  Youth  |  Men  |
|  Ladies  |  Classes  |  Photos  |  Choir  |  History  |  Contacts  |
|  Sign Guestbook  |   View Guestbook   |

EXIT to CalvinEvans.org