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On May 24, 2020: John 8:1-11 A Lesson On Condemnation · Teachings On This Day On FerventWord

• You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2020. Well, this morning as we look at this situation here in John chapter 8, I've titled the message, A Lesson on Condemnation. A lesson on condemnation. And what we have here is really an important teaching of the Lord, but not so much in his statements, but in the example that he sets. And we're dealing with the idea, the subject of condemnation from the beginning of the passage through the end of it. And so what is that? What are we talking about when we talk about condemnation? Here's a quick dictionary definition. Condemnation can be used in two forms, essentially. To condemn, it means to express complete disapproval, and it's typically done in public. And so it's a public demonstration or critical spirit, you might also call it, of disapproval and disgust, and often there's a disdain that goes along with it, this idea of condemning someone. But the word condemn can also be to sentence someone to a punishment. And that is typically used in the context of courtrooms or in the sense of standing before God as God is our judge. And so what condemnation is or what it means to condemn kind of depends on the context. And there is valid condemnation or condemning when there is situations where a person is in authority. For example, when we stand before God, there will be those who will be condemned by the Lord. And that's right and appropriate and exactly what needs to happen because God has authority and so he has the right to condemn. There is the situation of human courtrooms, and in that case as well, the Lord has prescribed and described that that is appropriate as well. And judgment needs to take place to maintain righteousness and to bring about justice. And so there's valid reasons to condemn in those kinds of situations. But there's also many other scenarios where condemning is not the right thing to do at all. Where it's outside of the realm of someone's authority, where it has no impact on reality. There's a lot of condemnation that happens, a lot of condemning that takes place that is not good and is not helpful and is not appropriate for us. And so we need to consider this idea of condemnation. And so four points we'll look at on this lesson about condemnation this morning. The first one is found in verses three through five. Here's point number one, sin brings condemnation. Here's the first thing that you need to know about condemnation. It's brought about by sin. Verse three tells us again, the scribes and the 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? And so here is Jesus' teaching there at the temple. The religious leaders bring this woman in and kind of interrupt the scene, interrupt the service, and bring before all of them this woman who is caught in adultery. And they make it clear. They point it out. This isn't a rumor. You know, we didn't hear about this, and it's not hearsay. But no, no, she was caught in the very act of adultery. And so it's a fact. It's not, you know, a question of whether or not it really happened. It's a fact. She was caught in the act. Here she is. And they put her in front of the Lord. They put her in front of everyone. And now they begin to challenge Jesus with the law of Moses. Moses, in the law, commanded us, in this situation, in this scenario, this person should be executed. Now, this statement of the religious leaders is accurate. This is what was commanded in the law of God. And you can see that in a few different places throughout the law of God. But here's one example, Leviticus chapter 20, verse 10. It tells us, "...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. This is God's law. This is what God instructed for the nation of Israel. That is, adultery was to be a capital offense. It was to bring about execution for both nations. The adulterer and the adulteress, both the man and the woman. Now, it's interesting as you read through this account, I'm sure you notice the guy is not present, right? That's not on the scene. He's not on the scene. Seems kind of suspect, you know, this whole passage and situation is, of course, not really about righteousness. And so the religious leaders aren't interested in that. But here, considering this for a moment from this woman's perspective, Here is this woman, and it's a fact, it's true. She has been caught in adultery. And even if she hadn't been caught in adultery, she had been committing adultery. And the law says that sin is to be punished. First of all, the law says that is sin. And that's important to remember. In our day and age, of course, in our society, we have a tendency to normalize sin and to water it down, to soften it, even to celebrate sin in some circumstances. We try to convince ourselves and everyone else that sin is not so sinful. And so the first thing to pay attention to about condemnation this morning is that, well, sin brings condemnation. That sin is still sin and and that it still brings about a righteous judgment against us when we engage in and practice a sinful practice, whether it be adultery physically, adultery in the heart or mind, whether it be another sin perhaps that is happening in your life, you need to understand things have not changed in that sin has not changed. Now, we are not the nation of Israel, and so adultery is not a capital offense for us, But at the same time, the judgment is still there and the death is still appropriate. Romans, or Paul tells us in Romans chapter 6 verse 23, the wages of sin is death. And again, it's important to note and to understand that hasn't changed. It hasn't changed. Sin still brings death. It earns. That's the wages, right? Sin earns and brings upon us the wrath of God, the death that is deserved as a result of the sinful behavior. Now, the contrast there is, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus. And so essentially, we get to choose. We earn the wages of sin, which is death, or we receive the gift of God, which is life. And it's up to us. We get to choose whether or not we will continue to live in sin or instead to turn from sin and receive the free gift of God and have the life of that Jesus provides for us. This morning, as we consider these things, if you find yourself comfortable in sin, if you find yourself in a place where you've been engaged in sin, you've been practicing sin, you've been allowing some compromise in your life for some time, you need to stop and reflect. You need to understand sin brings condemnation. The condemnation for the sin is not disputed here by the Lord. It is a sin. It is deserving of the judgment of God and the wrath of God. It does earn death. in this time where things are perhaps more tense than usual, God has a way of using those situations to bring things to the surface. And maybe during this time, maybe during these past few weeks or a couple months, there's been some sin that has kind of bubbled up. You know, just like metals are refined by being heated up and the impurities float to the top. And we go through times of adversity, times where we are heated up, and those things bubble to the surface. And so maybe the Lord has brought to light some sins, some things in your life that are out of line, that are inappropriate. And as you consider those things, here's what you need to know. You need to take them seriously. You need to address those things that the Lord is revealing because God is bringing them to your attention so that you have the opportunity to accept the gift of life and not receive the wages of death. God told the nation of Israel in Isaiah chapter 48 verse 10, I have refined you, but not as silver. I have tested you in the furnace of affliction. And so perhaps you've been experiencing that test, that affliction, and you've seen those things bubble up to the top. Let God address those things. Sin brings condemnation. Well, moving on to verse 5 and 6, here we get the second lesson on condemnation, and that is seeking to condemn does not reflect God's heart. Although condemnation is earned and deserved and right and appropriate for sin, it's seeking to condemn, and the heart and the attitude that seeks for condemnation to take place in someone else's life, that is not an accurate reflection of the heart of God. Now again, verse 5 and 6 say this, 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." Here is these religious leaders come before Jesus. They bring this woman caught in sin. It's a fact. It's true. She deserves judgment. She has been violating the law of God and the word of God. But here, as they bring her before the Lord, their concern is not really God or his ways or his righteousness. Notice what it says in verse 6. This they said, testing him. As far as the religious leaders were concerned, this was all a test. This was all a trap that they were trying to set for Jesus. Here they are bringing this heavy condemnation and shame upon this woman, but we're told the motivation. We're told what's really going on, and that is that they're seeking to trap Jesus. A couple chapters earlier, Jesus violated their Sabbath traditions, and it's still... very strongly in their mind. They're still interacting with it about that situation in chapter 7 and chapter 8. There's still this issue. And perhaps these religious leaders thought, well, hey, if Jesus rejects our Sabbath laws, which they considered laws but were really traditions, Perhaps they thought, well, Jesus is likely to reject the law of Moses as well. And so perhaps we're going to be able to expose him in front of everybody that he doesn't actually believe the law of God. That's one possibility. They were trying to trap Jesus, perhaps, in that if he... said, no, don't stone her, then they would be able to say, listen, this guy doesn't believe the Bible. He doesn't teach the Bible. They would be able to discredit his ministry. But if Jesus responded and said, yes, that's what Moses said, that's what God commanded, so execute her right now on the spot. Well, then Jesus would destroy all of those relationships that he built because of his grace towards the sinful people. Remember, the religious leaders had a problem with Jesus always hanging out with those sinners. And it disgusted them and they were upset by it. And so if Jesus came out strong against this sin in that way, it would destroy his ministry that way. If he came out and was soft on sin and didn't follow the word of God, well, then they would be able to discredit his ministry that way. They thought they had him trapped. They thought they had it all figured out. He was cornered and they were going to be able to use this situation to, put a stop to his ministry. And so that was their plan. That's what they were thinking. Now, as that's going on, again, think about the way that these guys are willing to put this woman in this place of shame, to basically use her for their own purposes. They are not at all concerned about righteousness or about this woman that they are putting in this situation. Commentator William Barclay says it this way, Here as we consider this situation, the religious leaders, they do not value this woman at all. They don't care about her at all. They're willing to put her to shame. They're willing to put her to death. They're willing to sacrifice her life, her reputation, to be able to further their agenda. And this is an important thing to understand about condemnation. When condemnation is out of place, when it's not in the proper context in which it is appropriate, there's some serious consequences to that. And people around us, perhaps the people we condemn or perhaps the people around us as we are doing the condemning, people around us are affected. Condemnation, it's rooted in some agenda, some objective. It's not for concern or care for the things of God. It's not out of a passion or for righteousness. It's not what God does. It's not the way that God works. Even when God condemns, he never stops caring about the person who is condemned. And so here the religious leaders, they're seeking to condemn this woman, but really they're seeking to condemn Jesus, but they don't care about either one. What they really care about is their plans, their purposes, their agenda, and what they want to accomplish. It's a very selfish condemnation, a very selfish attitude that these religious leaders are demonstrating. Their perspective, this woman is worthless. Who cares? Who cares what happens to her? It doesn't matter. What really matters is whether or not Jesus' ministry is destroyed. Jesus must be destroyed. His ministry must come to an end. And clearly, as you consider these things, right, that's not the heart of God. They are not representing the heart of God one bit. Even though they're accurately declaring what the Bible says about the situation, their heart is so far from God. And so they come across with this condemnation. They come across condemning this woman and condemning Jesus. Now, you and I, as we consider these things today, another way to think about this perhaps is the idea of a critical spirit. And maybe you don't kind of consider yourself as, you know, condemning, but condemning. But I would encourage you to consider, do you have a critical spirit? A critical spirit desires destruction upon others, picks apart and destroys. And there's not really the regard for the cost of what's happening in the life of the other person. There's not a regard for the value of the other person. In fact, a critical spirit enjoys the destruction of others. And that is not the heart of God. Even the worst of the worst of the worst, right? God does not enjoy their destruction. Even when the condemnation and the destruction is just and right and even executed by himself, God does not enjoy the destruction of the sinner. He tells us this in Ezekiel chapter 33. He wants his people to know. So he says to Isaiah, say to them, As I live, says the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways, for why should you die, O house of Israel? Through the prophet Ezekiel, God is speaking to a people that has been in rebellion against him for several hundred years. And the practices that were going on, the things that they were doing were too graphic, too terrible for me to describe for you this morning. There was just horrendous sin that was going on, outright rebellion of the worst kind. And still God says, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked. The heart of God is very clear. People matter. He cares about them intensely. And so seeking to condemn, as these guys are seeking to condemn this woman, as they're seeking to condemn Jesus, they are not representing the heart of God. They're not in line with his mind on the matter. It's something for us to consider this morning. Seeking to condemn does not reflect God's heart. If you find yourself this morning with a critical spirit, And there's all kinds of criticisms that you have about all these situations and you perhaps desire or kind of giggle a little bit when destruction happens, when their campaign falls apart or when they're found out or when this situation happens or that situation happens and you take joy in the destruction of people's lives. You need to understand and please recognize that That is not a reflection of the heart of God. And so how do we keep ourselves from behaving like this? And make no mistake, this is a danger for every one of us. We might be able to think, well, I don't have a critical spirit. You know, I don't behave this way. And yet so easily we fall into this trap. Check out what William Barclay says about this. He says, And so many of us condemn faults in others, which are glaringly obvious in our own lives. He calls this one of the commonest faults in life. This is one of the most common things to find within us, holding others to a standard that we don't even try to meet. It's a condemnation. It's a self-righteousness. It's a critical spirit. And so how do we keep ourselves from this? How do we protect ourselves from this? How do we keep ourselves from engaging in this kind of behavior like these religious leaders did? Well, I'll remind you briefly of what Jesus taught us in Matthew chapter seven. Matthew chapter seven, verses three through five. He says, 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. Then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye. A couple things to note here. Jesus says, you see that speck in your brother's eye, and you're completely blind to the huge glaring plank that is in your own eye. To protect ourselves from this condemning heart or this critical spirit, we need to first understand that First, be real about the issues that we ourselves have. And it's a great way to reduce our criticism of others when we recognize that there are serious issues in our lives. There are serious issues of our hearts. And when we can spot something in someone else's life, we think of it backwards. Yeah, I understand I have serious issues, but you know, there's specs. But that serious issue, that's a plank in that person's life. And we get it backwards. And the Lord here says, hey, first stop and recognize what you see, those issues, those sins, those things that you think are so bad in the lives of others, what you need to first understand is your heart is harboring things that are just as bad, probably worse. And so we need to, first of all, recognize our own sinful condition. Then Jesus says, remove the plank. He says, first, First, remove the plank from your own eye. There needs to be repentance. There needs to be confession of sin. There needs to be a turning from that sin. So not just acknowledging the issue of sin and then now addressing the brother, now fixing, you know, that. But no, there needs to be a turn. There needs to be a change. Remove the plank from your eye. Take steps to change so that you don't continue on in that pattern of sin. And then thirdly, he says, now go help your brother. So notice he doesn't say, don't go help your brother, don't address sin, don't, you know, deal with things. He's not saying that. He's saying, first, recognize your own sin, then address and deal with your own sin, and now you can condemn your brother. No, no, that's not what he says either, right? He doesn't say, make yourself perfect so that you can condemn someone. No, deal with that sin, confess your sin, so that then you can help others. your brother with that speck in his eye. And so these three things are really important. First, acknowledge your sinfulness. Then address the sin and turn from it. And then, still not condemning, now seek to help. And again, it's caring for the person or persons that are involved. And so condemning does not reflect sin. God's heart or seeking to condemn does not reflect God's heart. Instead, we need to humble ourselves, address our own sin, and seek to come alongside people in a way that we can help them with the issues that are present there. Well, moving on to point number three, now we look at verses six through nine, and that is that God prefers conviction over condemnation. Condemning or seeking to condemn doesn't convey the heart of God, doesn't represent the heart of God. Here's what more accurately represents the heart of God. God prefers conviction over condemnation. Jumping again into verse 6, it says, "...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. Jesus now responds to the religious leaders that have brought this woman before him. And as he responds, his approach is really quite gentle and yet at the same time, so powerful. With great gentleness, he responds, but boy, does it have a big impact. I mean, you picture this scene. It's a big, dramatic scene. Here Jesus is teaching. There's a crowd of people, and the teaching is interrupted. The woman is thrown into the middle. The challenge is extended as they lay this trap, they lay this test for Jesus. And everybody's looking at Jesus now. What's Jesus going to do? What's he going to say? And what does he do? Jesus says, just ignores them. It tells us in verse 6, he stooped down and wrote on the ground with his finger as though he did not hear. Jesus just flat out ignored them. Now, not in reality, you know what I mean? Like he didn't just bury his head in the sand, but he did not respond and react in that moment the way that they were expecting or anticipating. You know, there's a lot of traps that you and I could avoid in If we would just ignore them, if we would just refuse to react in that moment. In my workplace, one of our favorite sports is is to try to trigger each other. That's what we call it, triggering each other. That is getting someone to kind of go off on a rant and kind of rile each other up a little bit. Now, that sounds quite cruel and mean, but it's, I promise, it's not in a mean way. And it took me a while to kind of catch on when I first started working there. You know, there would be these like crazy, outlandish, ridiculous things said about spiritual matters. And I would spin my chair around and begin to, okay, let me tell you. And then seeing the smiles on people's faces, realize, oh, you guys got me. Okay, I went for five minutes on this rant. You triggered me. And, you know, that's something that we continue to do. It's something kind of fun to do. Well, outside of that, there's also a lot of other things that trigger us. And there's a lot of attempt to trigger us. by society around us, by the things that we hear or watch, by the agendas and the things that people say. There's an attempt to, and we would avoid so many traps if we would just ignore those provokings, if we would just ignore those situations. And so here's Jesus just writing on the ground, ignoring them. Now something to consider is what did Jesus write on the ground? He was writing something, but it's not recorded here what he wrote. So we can't say for sure. But at the same time, it is recorded that he was writing on the ground. And so it's part of the situation. It's part of something that is worth understanding in this passage. That, again, Jesus wasn't just ignoring them and just, you know, pretending like nothing was happening. He was responding, but not in the way that they were expecting. Instead of reacting, answering immediately, saying the first thing, you know, on his mind, he stooped down and he began to write on the ground. This frustrated the religious leaders. Verse 7, it says, So they persisted. Jesus, what are you going to do? What do you say? Here's what Moses says. Here's this woman. She was caught in adultery. Jesus, what do you say? What are you going to do? And so finally, Jesus, again, after ignoring them for a little bit, riding on the dirt, he stands up and he says, if you're without sin, why don't you go ahead and be first to cast a stone at her? Stoning was the method of execution that was typical for the nation of Israel. And it was instructed in the law of God in Deuteronomy chapter 17, the hands of the witnesses should be first in the stoning. That is, those who are bringing this testimony of this sin that was committed, they should be involved in the execution and it would raise the stakes so that there wouldn't be those kinds of false witnesses in that time. And so Jesus says, look, if you're without sin, Why don't you go ahead? You're all witnesses. You caught her. Now, if you're without sin, go ahead. Cast the first stone. Here, Jesus really puts the ball back in their court. Pastor Thomas Constable says it this way. Jesus's reply put the dilemma back on his accusers. If they proceeded to stone the woman, they were claiming that they had not sinned. If they did not stone her, they would be admitting that they had sinned. They thought to trap Jesus, but in their trap, Jesus turned around and trapped them. Let him who is without sin cast the first stone. So now if they cast a stone, that would be their testimony saying, I have not sinned. And some Bible scholars looking at this say, perhaps it's not a sinlessness in the sense of never sinned in any capacity, but I have not sinned that sin of adultery. Either way, it would be a declaration from these guys saying, I haven't practiced that. I haven't harbored adultery in my heart or in my practices. But if they didn't cast a stone, well, now they're acknowledging something else. They're acknowledging that they had sinned. So here they are thinking to trap Jesus. Now they're trapped. And it's kind of like this battle of wits and stubbornness here of these religious leaders wanting to get rid of Jesus so bad. But they're stuck. They can't say that they're perfect, but they also refuse to admit that they're wrong. In verse eight, it says, and again, he stooped down and wrote on the ground. So Jesus throws that out there and then just lets that settle in their hearts and minds. Let them wrestle with that for a little bit. And he begins to write on the ground again. So now it's the second time Jesus is writing on the ground. He wrote on the ground one time, Then he says, let him who's without sin cast the stone. Now he's writing again. What was it that Jesus was writing on the ground? Again, we don't know. Most commentators and scholars speculate that Jesus was writing down their sins. And it seems that there is definitely something that was happening in what Jesus was writing that was causing a change in the crowd. Because it tells us in verse nine, then those who heard it The order of the departure gives us really the insight that something more was happening that we're not aware of. Whatever Jesus was writing on the ground, it was impacting this crowd. It was impacting these guys so that There's an order as they exit. Now, ultimately, they all walk away. Essentially, they all acknowledge, yeah, I'm not perfect. I can't cast a stone. I can't condemn because I have failed in sinfulness as well. But the fact that it happened in a specific order, oldest to youngest, lets us know there was something happening there. And it is a possibility. Perhaps Jesus was writing down, you know, particular guys, starting with the oldest guy. All right, Joe, you know, here is some things for you to think about. Remember last Tuesday, you know, you were in this situation, or here's another scenario that you might recall to mind. And suddenly Joe realizes that yeah, this keeps going and I'm going to be called out on more sin. I better get out of here while I still can while I'm not put to shame like we put this woman to shame. And so the oldest leaves. And then Jesus addresses the second oldest and begins to reveal perhaps some things, some trigger, some memories and reminders. And from the oldest down one by one, their hearts are being addressed. They're being brought to the place where there's a conviction. There's an acknowledgement that of their sinfulness. Now again, think about Jesus' approach here with these religious leaders. Jesus could have condemned them strongly, fiercely. He could have just totally went off on them right now, revealed their hearts, you know, shamed them publicly, bashed them, struck them down with lightning. Jesus could have condemned them in the worst way. But he did not treat them the way that they were treating this woman, even though they deserved condemnation. Instead, he used a very gentle approach to bring conviction to their hearts. Again, in verse 9, it says, internally, there was that conviction within as they began to face the fact. of their sinfulness. They were hiding it pretty well. They were blinded to it. They were, you know, self-righteous about this whole situation, but not anymore. Now there's a conviction. Now there's a recognizing of sin. Now their heart is hurting them and they're feeling guilty. They're recognizing how wrong they have been. In the end, they all acknowledge their sinfulness. The Apostle Paul in Romans chapter 2 says, It says, therefore, you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge. For whatever you judge another, you condemn yourself. For you who judge practice the same things. This is the reality. Again, looking at that speck in your brother's eye, having that condemnation, having that critical spirit, it reflects a blindness in our own hearts. We don't see that. We actually do the same things. And here Jesus brings these guys face to face with that reality. He brings conviction that they would know, that they would recognize they are sinful, just like this woman that they brought to accuse. God prefers conviction over condemnation because conviction gives the person an opportunity. The acknowledgement of sin doesn't bring forgiveness necessarily, but the acknowledgement of sin, the conviction of sin, brings about the opportunity to turn around to receive forgiveness, and to seek out a right relationship with God. This is something to consider if you find yourself in a situation where you need to address someone in sin. You can look at Jesus here for a good example. You can come out in strong condemnation. That is one approach, but the approach that Jesus used, again reflecting the heart of God, shows a very gentle approach to That brought conviction. And as a result, it was powerful. It brought about real change in these guys as they were stubborn and gritting their teeth. And then they walk away with a real knowledge of their sin, with a real acknowledgement of their failures before God. Whether or not they return and repent and get right with God, you know, that's still on them. That's still up to them. But now they have a better opportunity than they had before. Well, finishing it up in verses 10 and 11, we get the fourth point this morning. And that is that God delays condemnation to give opportunity for change. Verse 10 tells us, Here, Jesus says he is left alone with this woman. Now, the crowd was probably still around, but all of these accusers, they've melted away. One by one, they've gone away. by their own hearts, by their own conscience as a result of their sin. And now they're all gone. And so Jesus stands up. It's just him and this woman now. And he asks her some questions. Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Now, every time you see Jesus ask questions, it's appropriate to consider, why does Jesus ask questions? Is he seeking information? Is he trying to learn something, find out something he, you know, has never been able to figure out? Jesus asks questions not because he's seeking information, but to help us process and think through things that need to be thought through and addressed in our own hearts. And so here he asks this woman, where are those accusers of yours? Second question, has no one condemned you? Here the Lord felt it was necessary for her, it was important for her to acknowledge the fact that there are no more accusers. Has no one condemned you? He's helping her to come to this conclusion, to this understanding, to acknowledge this truth in her head. Nobody has condemned her. Again, sin brings condemnation. She deserved condemnation. She deserved judgment for the sin. And yet Jesus brought her face to face with the reality. No one has condemned you. The shame that she must have felt in the moments leading up to that perhaps now begins to be washed away a bit. She realizes in all of this, these guys may come against me hard. They may be super critical. They may throw me in the middle of this situation. And yet what the Lord has revealed is I'm not the only one who has this issue of sin. I'm not the only one who has behaved so shamefully. She now has the opportunity to recognize no one has condemned her because no one is without sin. And so she says, no, no one, Lord, no one's condemned me. He wants her to think through this. He wants her to process this. For you and I today, we can understand Romans 8, verse 1, there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Paul tells us in Romans 8, verse 34, who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died and furthermore is also risen and is at the right hand of God who also makes intercession for us. Who has the right to condemn us? Only the Lord who loves us so much that he died upon the cross for us, Paul says. Like this woman, We get to come face to face with this fact. No one condemns you. In Christ Jesus, there is therefore now no condemnation. And just as Jesus asked this woman the question to force her reply, to cause her to think through and to acknowledge this truth, I would encourage you to this morning to say that. Has no one accused you? Who is he who condemns you? It's Jesus. And he's not out to condemn you. He loves you so much he died upon the cross for your sin. He gave himself so that you might have life. Now it's very interesting here in verse 11. Jesus says, neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more. Jesus says, I don't condemn you either. Why? Why did Jesus not condemn her? Was it because she had not actually sinned? No, that's not true. She was caught in the very act. She deserved condemnation. She earned the wages of sin. But Jesus says, I'm not going to condemn you. I don't condemn you. Did Jesus not condemn her because, well, nobody else condemned her. So it's not the popular thing to do. It's not the accepted thing to do. It's not, you know, what society would expect or want. Nobody else is doing it. No, no, no. Those things didn't matter. Why did Jesus not condemn her? Well, he goes on to say, go and sin no more. And so here's where we get the point. God delays condemnation to give opportunity for change. The reason why he didn't condemn her was to give her an opportunity to go forward and live a new life free from sin. Now what's interesting about this too is that notice what it does not say. Jesus does not tell her that her sin is forgiven. He says, I don't condemn you. He doesn't say you're forgiven. Now he does say that on other occasions. Remember in Luke chapter 7? There was the woman who is known for harlotry. She was a known prostitute, but there her heart had been changed. Her life had been changed. She was worshiping Jesus, and he clearly tells her in verse 48 of Luke chapter 7, your sins are forgiven. And so Jesus wasn't opposed to making that declaration. He often would do that, but he doesn't tell this woman here in John chapter 8 that her sins were forgiven. Was she forgiven? No. Well, perhaps a question to ask before that is, was she repentant? We don't really know. Here she was caught in the act. We don't know where her heart was at. We don't know if she walked away and then sinned no more and desired to live a new life apart from sin, or perhaps she went off and lived the same kind of life that she had been living up to that point. We don't know where her heart was at. Jesus knew, and so he ministered to her according to where her heart was at. He says, I don't condemn you. Go and sin no more. Jesus says, look, I don't need to make the final decision right now. And this is an important part of God's perspective that we often miss. Even when condemnation is earned and deserved and right and just, well, the timing is important because God wants to give opportunity for another chance. He wants to give opportunity for change. If God just struck us down and condemned us when we deserved it the first time, well, none of us would be here saying these things or watching the service. Like, none of us would be here because we would all be condemned because of our sinfulness. But God delays condemnation so that we have a real opportunity to change. Pastor Thomas Constable says she would have to stand before him again in the future. But this was not the time that he wanted to pass judgment on her. He gave her mercy in time to change her ways. She will stand before him again. And if she changed, well, she would stand before him not for condemnation, but for life. But if she didn't change, well, then there would be the condemnation for the behavior and for the sin. But he doesn't strike us down on the first offense or the second necessarily, or the third, or the 50th, or the 100th. It's up to him. He has the opportunity and he knows what's best and the best timing. He applies condemnation at just the right time to accomplish his purposes and what's best for us. God delays condemnation to give opportunity for change. Now this morning, as you consider that, don't take that as a license then encouragement. Okay, God delays condemnation, so that means I can delay repentance. Now let me encourage you this morning. The delay is an unspecified amount of time. If you do find yourself, God's brought to light some sin. He's brought to light. It's clear to you. There's some issues that God wants to address that God's calling you out of. Don't delay repentance. Don't delay repentance. That's wickedness. That is a horrible practice and you're banking on, you're counting on further delay, which is not guaranteed. It's risky. Know what we need to do. As the Lord reveals sin, as light is brought forth, is we need to turn from it and to repent and to call out to the Lord for forgiveness, for transformation, for change. Peter tells us in 2 Peter 3, verse 9, the Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some count slackness, but is long-suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. Judgment for sin is promised, and God's not slack concerning that promise. But he is long-suffering. He does wait. He does delay for the opportunity to bring people to repentance. His promise of returning and calling the church to be gathered with him in the clouds, he's not slack concerning that promise, but he is long-suffering, giving us as much opportunity, as much time as possible to turn, to repent, to change, that we might have life instead of condemnation. Is God delaying for you? Is he long-suffering towards you and there's things going on that he needs to address, that he's calling you to address, he's calling you to repentance? Don't count on, don't live by the delay, but turn right now. Now is your chance. Now is your time. Because tomorrow is not promised. You need to deal with sin. Pastor William Barclay says, Jesus confronted the woman with a choice that day. Either go back to her old ways or to reach out to a new way with him. The story is unfinished, for every life is unfinished until it stands before God. You may find yourself in the worst sinful circumstances that or imaginable. Maybe you find yourself in a place where you never thought you would reach this point. You can't even understand really how you got there. It's still not too late. God has delayed your condemnation because he wants to give you an opportunity to change. He wants to give you an opportunity to turn, to be made whole, to be forgiven, and brought into right relationship with him. And so there's some important lessons here about condemnation for us to consider this morning. Sin brings condemnation. Do you find yourself in sin? Do you find yourself comfortable with sin and you're just compromising, you're just allowing it to persist and continue in your life? Understand the wages of sin is death. Don't let it become a comfortable thing in your life. Turn from sin, address sin. Are you finding yourself this morning in a place where you're seeking to condemn, where you have that critical spirit? It doesn't reflect the heart of God. You need to get back to reality. Stop living in the fantasy of self-righteousness that you've built up in your mind and your heart and recognize your heart is wicked and your heart is far from God when you are condemning and critical in that way and destructive and enjoying the destruction of others. God regards people highly. He values them highly. Even the worst of the worst, he doesn't enjoy their destruction. God prefers conviction over condemnation. This is really helpful if you need to address someone in sin, if you need to deal with the situation, and there are those occasions. We can follow the example of Jesus, the gentleness, the care, the opportunity for repentance that he extends is important and powerful. And then finally, God delays condemnation to give opportunity to for change. Don't delay. Don't put things off. Don't put it down for another day. Once this happens after quarantine, then you'll get right with the Lord. No, no. Start now. Start right now. Because God has delayed, but that doesn't mean he's going to continue to delay. He is long-suffering, but at the same time, that long-suffering comes to an end. And there will be a day where we stand before the Lord, and if we're not right with him, if we're not walking in relationship with him, if we're not forgiven of our sins by faith in Jesus Christ, we will stand before him to receive condemnation. One final thought from Psalm chapter 34, verse 22. The Lord redeems the soul of his servants and none of those who trust in him shall be condemned. We have this great promise. Again, there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ. We have the promise, the guarantee of redemption. Trust in the Lord and you shall not be condemned. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for these promises. We thank you for your word and the opportunities that you give to us. Lord, that we don't experience the judgment that we deserve immediately, but that you delay so that we can be convicted, so that we can have the opportunity to turn our lives around and come back to you, to the relationship with you that you desire that is best for us. Lord, from the life and the behavior and the practices, Lord, turning from those that are destructive to those that are edifying and helpful and bring honor and glory to you. And so, Lord, I pray that you would help us to do that. Sin in our own lives, Lord, interacting with and dealing with people around us and even addressing sin when it's necessary in other people's lives. Lord, may we be in line with and in sync with your heart, not condemning, not despising, not devaluing the people, but Lord, holding in high regard your creations, your children, loving them just as you love us. And so Lord, lead us by your spirit. Wash us, forgive us, and help us to walk with you in righteousness. We pray this in Jesus' name, amen. We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.