WHO WILL BE FIRST OFF THE MARK? WHAT HYPOCRITE WILL THROW THE FIRST STONE? PART 2
SERIES - THE CHARACTERS OF JOHN’S GOSPEL
THE WOMAN TAKEN IN ADULTERY – John 8 v 1-11 PART 2
[The account of the woman taken in adultery continues. This is Part 2 of the message.]
Earlier, I said that adultery and homosexuality were related. Why is that? The answer lies in the affront of the sin, that is, what are those two sinning against? They sin against the same truth, the same standard. In Genesis, God brought the woman to the man to become one flesh in marriage right back at the beginning. The Lord affirmed that in this most important passage Matthew 19:4-6 He answered and said, “Have you not read, that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother and shall cleave to his wife and the two shall become one flesh?’ Consequently they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.”
Do you know why God instituted marriage between a man and a woman and placed it on such a high plane? It is because human marriage is the antitype of the greatest marriage in the universe, and that is the union between Christ and His Church. Christ is the Bridegroom who comes for His Church and leads her to the marriage supper of the Lamb. That great, eternal union of Jesus Christ with His blood-bought Bride is the basis of all marriage, and is the reason why adultery and homosexuality are so obnoxious. Both of these sins smack against the truth of Christ and His Church, the union that was pre-ordained in eternity past, long before the creation of the universe. Adultery adulterates the purity of the Church and homosexuality is a mutant distortion of it. In my mind, homosexuality is the greater of the two evils, but that is just my feeling, not something I put as a truth, possibly because it disfigures the marriage union more than adultery. The really great evil though is homosexual “marriage”, so called, because it is thoroughly perverted, and evil in concept.
Before we come back to the woman in our passage today, I want to remind you of something very critical. Adultery, homosexuality, murder even, or any sin that exists and springs from the old nature, can become the stumbling block for any Christian. “O,” you might say, “I would never commit those bad sins! How dare you even suggest that!” Well, okay, but let us talk about pride. What about that proud look and hard heart? Have you been guilty of that sin of judging others? Never forget the greatest and first sin in all creation was pride – “I will ascend into heaven. I will overthrow God”. Christians are not immune from failure. We see that in Abraham who had to bend the truth about Sarah; and in David who committed adultery and murder; and in Peter who denied knowing the very Lord who was the core of his life; Judah who went down to the prostitute. Every one of us is capable of being caught out in a moment. However all three of those men mentioned continued on in loving God and serving Him, and were greatly blessed; even Judah in his own way. Isn’t our Lord wonderful who knows our very frame, and all the weaknesses and failures we have. The greater the sin, the greater God’s grace is to us when we are truly repentant.
There is an important area I want to touch on. What do we say concerning a Christian person who gets caught up in some terrible sin. Well, to their shame, some of the saints turn on them in judgement and separation, and gossip about them and ostracise them. We are the Lord’s flock and are supposed to be following the Shepherd. What if one sheep falls off the pathway into the bramble thorns? What do you expect the remainder of the sheep to do? Do you think they will try delivering belly kicks to the caught up sheep? Of course not, but some Christians do that to others. I want to speak to anyone who has fallen in the way, and has been caught up by the devil, or the lust of the flesh or the lust of the eyes or the pride that is in this life. I don’t know any sin that does not fit into those categories. The one thing that differentiates Christians from the unsaved, is that we have the indwelling Holy Spirit, and one of his ministries is to convict of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgement. He did that when He first brought you to Christ, and He does that when you sin, whether in your eyes, that sin be small or great. However, in God’s eyes, sin is sin, and all sin is wickedness, and it breaks the fellowship with God, but the conviction of the Holy Spirit is there to bring you back to God in repentance. See what David prayed in Psalm 51 – “Against you, you only, have I sinned.” That is where we begin. It is called confession, and confession leads to forgiveness.
You might ask me what is my favourite verse or verses. That would be hard to answer, but right up at or near the top are a few verses from the first letter of John to God’s children - 1John 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 1John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1John 1:10 If we say that we have not sinned we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us. How gracious is God! How loving and forgiving is He who forgives and cleanses. You know, if there was censorship of the Bible, and we did not have the failures of Noah, Abraham, David and Peter written down, and the woman taken in adultery recorded, how much worse it would be for us. These people were our teachers, even through their sin. God is so gracious. Paul never ceased using the word “grace” in every letter he wrote.
Much earlier we were speaking of what would be the greatest sin and suggested words people would say. Pride was there at or near the top. But there is one sin that is the greatest and there is no recovery from that. I speak of unbelief for unbelief means the rejection of Christ and His salvation, and it condemns a person to hell. John 3:18 “He who believes in Him is not judged. He who does not believe has been judged already because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” John 8:24 “I said therefore to you that you shall die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am He, you shall die in your sins.” God’s judgement falls on unbelief and it is permanent.
John 8:6 They were saying this, testing Him, in order that they might have grounds for accusing Him, but Jesus stooped down and with His finger wrote on the ground. John 8:7 When they persisted in asking Him, He straightened up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” John 8:8 Again He stooped down and wrote on the ground, John 8:9 and when they heard it, they began to go out one by one, beginning with the older ones, and He was left alone, and the woman who was in the midst.”
They brought the woman before the Lord. There she stood and the Pharisees kept questioning Him but He did not reply, and then Jesus stooped to write in the dirt. What did He write? I don’t know. Some preachers speculate He doodled; others that He wrote the name of the Pharisee who was with the woman in the act; others that He wrote the crime, then later cancelled the crime out. Let us remember that the same finger that wrote in the dust that day, is the same finger that wrote the Law on the tablets of stone on Sinai. Jesus is the Lawmaker of the universe. We can not know what He wrote and we speculate in vain.
When He did speak, following their persistent questions, His words cut to the heart - “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” Who will be first off the mark? Who will take up the first stone? The words of the Author of the Law convicted them and made them cowards of their own consciences. Conviction is meant to bring us to God, but these arrogant Pharisees skulked away, guilty as they were. Conviction brought them not to God but drove them further away. Those with the greater accumulated sins went first – the older ones; then all down the line until they were all gone. We normally associate conviction with the Holy Spirit, but the Lord Jesus Christ is the second person of the Godhead, and so conviction is His ministry too.
Sin will condemn but condemnation has a first cousin which is conviction. Conviction has a first cousin which is repentance. How many will stand before the great white throne one day who were convicted of their sin but hardened their hearts to refuse the offer of God for forgiveness. Come to the Lord while His mercy is still extended. The sinner has sinned against God but the merciful God will forgive when the sinner repents. Do it and don’t delay.
John 8:10 Straightening up, Jesus said to her, “Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?” John 8:11 and she said, “No one, Lord.” Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go your way. From now on sin no more.”
The woman remained with Jesus and He rose from the ground and looked at the woman and asked, “Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?” What a wonderful relief that must have been for her. No more condemnation. She could happily answer, “No one, Lord.” However we also deal with God, and what is His verdict for us? This is so gracious - Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go your way. From now on sin no more.” Not only was He the giver of the Law but the provider of the grace that supersedes the Law. God’s forgiveness is beyond understanding. In Christ, we are recipients of His forgiveness and that causes our hearts to rejoice in God’s salvation.
“Go your way.” What a delight. She went her way forgiven with newness of life and a new testimony. She is in heaven today.
Do you think the woman went back to her adultery? The Lord told her to sin no more. Note how she addressed her Deliverer. She called Him Lord. She meant that. Her life had been shaken, but she found refuge in the Lord. Not once did Judas call Him Lord. He who sins the worst, when forgiven, loves the most. This woman loved the Lord dearly, I am sure of that. So did Mary Magdalene. Jesus revealed His grace to her, but that grace demanded holiness. Forgiveness must be followed by a new life.
Jesus takes the broken-hearted;
He will seek the hurting soul.
He will fold His arms of mercy
‘Round those ones to make them whole.
Why do people shun His pleading;
Why do they ignore His call;
Why do they refuse to follow?
Hence, they stumble on and fall.
(Ron Ferguson from his poem “Can We Understand His Goodness”
ronaldf@aapt.net.au
