Have you ever wondered why there are so many tales of failure in God’s Word ... so many indications of how people have failed in life? This suggests two things to me, among many others. One is that the Bible has these kinds of stories in it because God wrote it. If people had written this in their own inspiration, a lot of things would have been glossed over or explained away. But God is honest and true. He knows the truth and tells the truth.
The other reason I believe these stories are in the Word of God is because He is a God of grace, and these stories remind us of our sinfulness and of God’s grace ... how He loves us, forgives us, and cares for us.
Would you look for that as we read John 8:1-11? READ
This presentation perfectly corresponds with all the Biblical presentations of the character of God. Too often, we are prone to picture God as some resident policeman, some cosmic killjoy who likes to rap our knuckles when we seem to be having a good time. Many times, we picture God as some pouting sovereign who is angry because we didn’t keep His rules. If the life of Christ tells us anything, it tells us that the Lord is not very interested in useless rules. But He very much loves people, and He knows how much sin hurts people.
You wonder about the hurts of this story. What about the woman’s husband?
What about the wife of the man she was caught with?
I’m sure, Jesus was angry because the man wasn’t brought in with her. After all, they were caught in this act together. God hates sin, but He loves people. He cares so very much about people, and He knows that sin always hurts people.
Our Reactions to Sin
We have here a picture of reaction to sin. I think when this woman was first confronted her reaction was like everyone of us when we’re caught
red-handed. What do you do when you’re undeniably, unavoidably, unmistakably, unable to explain why you’re caught in the act of sin? I think her first reaction was to say, "What right has anyone got to judge me? What right does society have to say about two consenting adults doing whatever they want to do?"
I think, first of all, she was angry, and that anger then gave way to fear.
Isn’t that how it happens? The anger soon fades away, fear is there, and we’re afraid. "What’s going to happen to my family? What are the people going to think? What’s going to happen to me?" Sin always has its consequences, and when we face that, we begin to be afraid. "What’s going to happen when I stand before God with this record?"
Then comes shame. Shame always arrives late, but it stays longer. I’m sure the shame was there, too. We see a picture of how God’s character is consistent in loving the sinner and hating the sin, never giving up on that. Our reaction is much like that. First, anger ... then fear ... then shame.
His Reaction to Sin
We see the consistent way that Jesus always deals with sin. He says to the woman, "Where are the people who accused you?" She said, "They’re not here."
He said, "I don’t condemn you either."
That’s an interesting statement, isn’t it? He said, "I don’t condemn you. Go and sin no more." There’s the salt and the grace in everything Jesus did. There’s the grace that says, "I do not condemn you," and there’s the salt that says, "Go and sin no more because it’s going to hurt you every time you do it. It’s going to tear your life up every time you’re caught up in this." Your sin will always backfire. Your kicks will kick back. Sin is going to hurt. That’s why God doesn’t like it.
He said, "Neither do I condemn you." Remember John 3:16, QUOTE.
But do you know what John 3:17-18 says?
READ
Jesus didn’t come to condemn anybody. He came to save people who were already condemned because of their own sins. He said, "Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already ..." It was already the condition. He said, "I don’t condemn you, lady. I came to save you.
I care about you." That’s His reaction every time to sin. That’s what it’s really always about.
Have you ever wondered how she did after this? What happens after you say, "I’m sorry"? Did she sin again? Could she live a life of purity after this? Was this some kind of recurring sin that was a part of her life, a thing she had to bear as it kept being repeated over and over again?
I think we’re interested in that, aren’t we, because so many of us are repeat offenders. None of us are people who commit all the sins in the book. We preachers can really preach against the things we’re not tempted to do, but all of us have a recurring sin. That’s what Hebrews said.
We need to lay aside that sin which does so easily beset us so we can run the race that God wants us to.
I’m afraid that all of us, while we don’t commit all the sins in the book, have that at least one besetting sin. It keeps coming back. It’s there with us. It sits down with us. It lies down with us. It’s with us every day. Those thoughts keep bombarding our mind. We get caught up in this ruinous repetition of repent and repeat, repent and repeat. That seems to be a lifestyle.
Wouldn’t it be great if there was some sort of first century, God-inspired, Paul Harvey who could tell us "the rest of the story." I’d like to know how the prodigal son did after he came home. Did he ever get a haircut? You know, you’d like to know some of these things. You wonder, did this woman ever do this again?vWe want to know that because so many of us don’t want to do it again. We don’t want to keep repeating this one recurring sin, this thing that marks us in our walk with God and hurts so very much. We ask ourselves, "Do I always have to be a part of this ruinous repetition of repent and repeat, repent and repeat?"
Good News for Sinners
There’s good news. God’s good news is that you can head that sin off at the pass. You can cut into that repetition and the emphasis is upon "head" because that’s where it all begins, isn’t it? You understand that one of the crucial teachings of the Word of God is this: All sin begins in your head. It all begins there.
In Psalm 1, the very first verses tell us about the cycle of sin: "Blessed is the man" to be congratulated, happy, spiritually prosperous. What a splendid word is blessed. "Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers."
Do you see the progression? He walks and gets counsel from the ungodly. Then he stops and stands and invites it some more. Finally, he’s sitting down and scorning it with all the rest of them. It’s a progressive thing. It all began with the counsel of the ungodly. He let something get into his head that ought not to be there.
Remember how James 1:14-15 says that we are pulled aside, [it literally says we are dragged aside by our own lust], and that lust and desire, when it conceives, gives birth to sin. That sin, when it’s done its work, leads to death. There’s the cycle once again.
We’re pulled aside ... not "the devil made me do it." We’re pulled aside by our own lusts, by what we’ve allowed to get into our heads.
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said some strange things. He said, "You’ve heard it said, ’Don’t commit murder.’ I tell you don’t think it." Don’t let it get into your head. Don’t let hatred toward your brother be a part of your life.
He said, "You’ve heard it said, ’Do not commit adultery.’ I say to you don’t think adultery." He goes on to say that you and I are just as responsible to God for what we think as for what we do because all sin begins in our heads.
And we always have to watch out for what Zig Ziglar calls "stinkin’ thinkin’.
You know, we need to have a "check-up from the neck-up." We need to keep our minds clear. We need to understand that it all begins in our heads.
So we can change our minds. Do you believe that? Do you believe that you can change your mind? We read in Scripture, "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is ... his good, pleasing and perfect will" (Romans 12:2). The Bible says, "Change your mind." Don’t let your mind change you. Keep charge of your head. Don’t be conformed. Don’t be pressed into the mold of this world. Don’t let this world make you like itself and turn you out like so many clones who are thinking the same things, desiring the same things, doing the same things, living for the same reason.
The people of God need to be people with much higher living than that.
One of the great sins of our day is more and more of the churches are beginning to look like the world when God intended the world to look like the church He intended it to be. The Lord is saying, "Don’t let this world press you into its mold. Don’t be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." Don’t let the wrong stuff get into your head. It’s saying you can guard your head.
Timothy was a young pastor, and Paul’s last two letters were written to this young pastor. They’re in your Bibles as I and II Timothy. In II Timothy 4:16, he said, "Timothy, keep a close watch on everything you do or think." In II Timothy 2:22 he said, "Timothy, run from anything that makes you want to do bad and cling to anything that makes you want to do good." Guard what gets into your head.
Three Principles For Christian Living
I want to give you three principles for Christian living. First is the principle of blockage. You need to block what gets into your head. You need to block what’s already there that ought to be out. This is the principle of blockage.
A man was driving down the highway one day. He pulled up behind a very expensive, clean, and fancy eighteen-wheeler. The driver seemed to be so proud of his rig that he had autographed it. He wrote his name "Joe" right across the back of it. Then the man that was following the truck noticed the mud flaps on this eighteen-wheeler. They were very expensive mud flaps. They were heavy, white rubber, trimmed with chrome to weight them down. In the middle of those mud flaps were very sensual silhouettes of a nude in chrome.
He said, "I hoped my wife wouldn’t see that. I just wanted to get around that truck as soon as I could. As I was driving by, I thought I’d look and see what Joe looked like. Joe was a most impressive looking guy ... sitting up straight, real good-looking hair, horn-rimmed glasses and a neat mustache. I said, ’Honey, Joe looks like a professor.’ And she said, ’Joe’s not a professor. You can always tell a truck driver by his mud flaps."
What kind of mud flaps are you showing the world? What kind of mud flaps are in your mind? What’s there? Block it out.
Then there is the principle of substitution. Put in your mind what ought to be there. You do understand that you are always thinking something. You can’t think nothing. Sometimes, I think that’s all I’m doing is sitting and thinking about nothing, but you really can’t think nothing. You’re going to be thinking something. So make sure there is something you can substitute, especially when the wrong kind of garbage is thrown at you in your head. Have something to put there in substitution.
Psalm 119:9-11 says, "How can a young man keep his way pure? How can a young person keep his life clean? That’s the question. And the answer? "By living according to your word ... I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you."
It’s a good idea to memorize portions of God’s Word so that when the wrong thoughts bombard your mind, you can put by substitution the right thoughts there. All the sin, all the destruction, all the problem begins in your head.
Paul said to Timothy, "Whatsoever things are good, pure, just, honest, upright, the things to praise people for, think about those things and not the opposite of that."
Long before William James, the great philosopher and motivator said, "A man is what he thinks about all day long," the Scripture said, "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he." It all begins in your head. Watch what gets into your head. Block out that which is wrong. Substitute that which is good. Put the good in place of the bad.
The last principle is the principle of rehearsal. Rehearse some facts all day long. Keep reminding yourself of some very wonderful and real facts of life.
Remind yourself, "Jesus Christ lives in me. He is with me. He is here every day. Jesus Christ lives in me." Remind yourself. The Scripture says "I can do all things through Him who strengthen me." (Phil. 4:13). I can handle anything.
I can do whatever He wants me to do. I can live the life He wants me to live.
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Rehearse that.
Keep it before you. Remind yourself of that thought day after day as you walk with Him.
I hope that you’ll become absorbed in the person of Christ. Your greatest mistake would be to become absorbed in yourself. Don’t be self-absorbed.
Be Christ-absorbed, and you’ll find that liberating. Don’t try to be self-confident. Don’t tell yourself how wonderful you are and how much you can do and how great you are. Let your confidence not be in yourself but in God.
Paul said, "I can do all things through Him who strengthens me." Let your confidence be in God. Be filled with God-confidence because He’s with you every step of the way. So watch what gets into your head, and the Word says, "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." Then you’ll find what God wants for you is right. It’s good. It’s perfect. It’s exactly what you would want if you knew as much as He does. Let your mind be His.
The Scripture says, "Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus,"
and it says as a person thinks in his heart, so is he. Watch your head.
You don’t have to keep repeating the same sinful lifestyle.
You can head it off at the pass.
