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506 | Neither Do I Condemn Thee · The Woman at the Well Ministries Podcast

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Thank you for joining us in today's podcast. You can visit the show notes for.
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Quotes from today's podcast and scripture references.
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Thank you to the Gospel Group Fudge Creek for letting us use their hit song, Happy Girl.
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We greatly appreciate your prayers. We are praying daily for our listeners.
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Remember that God loves you. You are loved.
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Music.
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People often look for defects, frailty, and faults in others,
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and don't even notice their own mistakes, even when those mistakes are equal
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to or more serious than the ones they are pointing out.
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Join us in this podcast of Woman at the Well Ministries as Kim Miller takes
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us on a journey through the scriptures, painting a vivid picture from John 8.
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The town gathered to stone a woman caught in sin, yet everyone present was guilty of their own sins.
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One by one, they left as Jesus convicted them of their actions.
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Then there was one who acknowledged her sins, and Jesus said,
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Woman, where are those thine accusers?
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Hath no man condemned thee?
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Neither do I condemn thee. Go and sin no more.
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Hello, and welcome to this podcast of Woman at the Well Ministries,
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and And what an absolute blessing it is to just know the forgiveness of God.
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Each of us who call ourselves Christians have been forgiven.
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And the interesting thing about it is, is that we all do come to Jesus like
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the woman at the well did in John chapter 4.
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We all need him just as much as
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she did. Whether you were saved at five or whether you were saved at 55.
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Whether you lived a life that was moral or whether you lived a life that was
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socially unacceptable and very immoral.
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It takes just as much blood to cleanse you from your sins as it does the other one.
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The woman at the well didn't require more cleansing than I did.
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And I was saved at five. And the Lord is pretty clear about this,
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but no more so than in John chapter 8.
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It's a familiar account where a woman who's caught in adultery is brought to
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the city square to be ridiculed, punished, and killed.
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But an interesting thing happens when the King of kings and the Lord of lords encounters her.
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The only one who could judge has chosen not to.
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Turn in your Bibles to John chapter 8 and let us pray as we read God's word.
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Lord, we ask that you would just enter into this message.
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We pray, Lord, that you would open up our hearts and our minds and that we would
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speak only what you would have us to speak, that you would remove me from the message.
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That you would allow me to be your messenger, that hearts would be turned and
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lives would be changed, not because of me, but because they've encountered you through this message.
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Lord, we love you, we praise you, and we thank you. And in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
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Beginning in verse 1 of John chapter 8, it goes like this.
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Jesus went into the Mount of Olives, and early in the morning he came again into the temple.
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And all the people came unto him, and he sat down and taught them.
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And the scribes and the Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery.
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And when they had set her in the midst, they say unto the hymn master this woman
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was taken in adultery in the very act now moses and the law commanded us that
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such should be stone but what say is that now i want you to just look at the context of this,
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jesus is on the mount of olives it's early in the morning he's in the temple
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and he's teaching the people.
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Jesus is the teacher for the hour.
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But these scribes and these Pharisees, they come upon him, bringing with them
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a woman who was caught in the act of adultery.
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And they begin to educate Jesus when they say,
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Now, Moses in the wall commanded us that this woman should be stopped.
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As if Jesus didn't know what Moses had commanded him.
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As if Jesus needed to follow Moses.
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Not how it works. but sometimes
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we can become so legalistic we
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can become so hard-nosed though there's
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no love of god in us and there is no room to circumnavigate the scriptures that's
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not what i'm saying i'm saying that jesus christ loves you and i'm saying that
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god is love and i'm saying that love covers a multitude of sins.
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And sometimes when we are bringing someone to someone else for correction, it isn't to help them.
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It is to punish them. And you need to check just where your motive lies.
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We don't need a bunch of gossipers in the family of God. We don't need a bunch
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of scorekeepers in the family of God.
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Jesus said that our sins are forgiven and they are cast as far as the east is from the west.
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As a result of this, we don't need a scorekeeper.
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We are all as filthy rags. Our works are as filthy rags.
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We are all unclean in need of a savior.
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We don't even have an opportunity, if we are basing it on our own merit, to be in the game.
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But Jesus comes on the scene, and he says, I love you.
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He who knew no sin became sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
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The one and only, sinless, perfect Lamb of God doesn't choose to punish those
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who will ask for forgiveness and receive his free gift of salvation,
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but instead doesn't choose to punish those,
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He offers a pardon. And in the scene, we see two very different attitudes.
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My mom always had a saying, if I got a little too sassy or a little too harsh with my words.
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And it was simply this.
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Where's the love of God in that? See, because she understood that God speaks
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with love, that God corrects in love,
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that God wants only what is best for us, that God wishes that none should perish,
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but that all should come to repentance.
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That when God is showing discipline, it is for the very reason to give you the
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abundant life he came that you might have, according to John 10.10.
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His motive is always to bless you.
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Everything that happens in your life, according to Romans 8,
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28, and 29, is for your good and his glory, because he works out all things
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for the good to them that but love the Lord, to them that are called according to his purpose.
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And friends, we have been called to spread the gospel, going into all the world
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to preach and teach the gospel.
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That's not just for preachers with titles, teachers with titles.
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Missionaries, leaders in the church.
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That's for every born-again, blood-bought child of the Most High God.
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But these scribes and Pharisees, they were all about it.
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They had some kind of religious title people looked up towards them and they
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were so caught up in themselves that in front of them was the king of kings
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and the lord of lords and instead of listening and learning at his feet they
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were trying to educate him on the law of moses.
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As the account goes on, he says in verse 6, This they said, tempting him,
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that they might have to accuse him.
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But Jesus stooped down and with his finger wrote on the ground,
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as though he heard them not.
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So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself and said unto them,
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He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.
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And again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. And they which heard it,
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being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one,
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beginning at the eldest, even unto the last.
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And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.
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Oh, the one-on-one time with Jesus. It changes everything.
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When Jesus had lifted up himself and saw none but the woman,
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he said unto her, Woman, where are those unaccusers?
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Hath no man condemned thee?
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She said, No, man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee. Go and sin no more.
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Verse 12 is where we're going to park for a minute before we pick up this account in John chapter 8.
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In verse 12, it says, Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying,
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I am the light of the world.
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He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.
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Now, if you were to speak to these scribes and Pharisees, I promise you they
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believe they have the light of life.
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I promise you that they believe they're not walking in darkness.
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But again, I submit to you, what is their motive?
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Is it to help the woman? Is it to bring the woman closer to a relationship with Jesus?
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To get her to change her sinful wickedness? No!
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If she sinned, she did wrong. She deserves to be punished. What are you going to do now, Jesus?
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That's their attitude. And you know, we can be pretty self-righteous.
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And for many of us, we might come across that way.
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You know, the person who shows up in church sitting in your seat with tattoos and piercings.
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Or maybe it's the person who's ashamed sitting in the bath because they don't
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have running water and so they can't clean themselves up.
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Oh, we look clean when we come to church. But I submit to you that many of us
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are like the scribes and the Pharisees.
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And we're dirtier than the ones who don't have any water to wash their outsides.
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Because we have seen the King of Kings. We have known the Lord of Lords. We have walked with him.
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He is our heavenly father. We are his child and our insides are dirty,
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not because he didn't clean them, but because we just keep putting the world inside of us.
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We are filling ourselves with everything but the love of God.
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We're filling ourselves with everything but the word of God.
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We are feasting on the pleasures of this world instead of the bread of life.
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The scribes and the pharisees they had
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a lot to say but jesus says again
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i am the light of the world he that
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follows me shall not walk in darkness but shall have a light of life what does
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it mean to walk in darkness i don't think it means that you go around after
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dark when the dust of dawn lights are on you know scripture says that men that
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love darkness rather than light their deeds are evil.
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I don't have a lot for hanging out in the dark, but oh, how I love the light.
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You can introduce a match into a football stadium that is completely dark.
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And no matter where that match is, you'll see that little flicker of light because
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light dispels darkness.
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And he is the light. And he says that we are the light because he puts his light in us.
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In fact, in Matthew chapter 5 verse 16 he says let your light so shine before
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men that they may see your good works and glorify your father which is in heaven.
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What does it mean to walk in darkness? It means to not follow Christ.
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But let's take a look at what it means to walk in the light, to not walk in darkness.
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We follow Christ's commandments.
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The steps of a good and righteous man are directed and established by the Lord,
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and he delights in his way, and he blesses his path.
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When we are walking in the light, But as he is the light, we are following after him.
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His commandments, they aren't hard for us.
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They aren't grievous for us to follow because we love him. And he said,
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if you love him, you will keep my commandments.
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Walking in the light means we follow Christ's example.
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These scribes and these Pharisees who are bringing this woman to the Lord.
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Are not following his example. As we pick up this account.
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In verse 6. We see that they. Are tempting him.
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But what you see is that Jesus. Stoops down.
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Now scripture doesn't. Tell us. What he's writing.
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But there's one thing. That it does say. It does say that he's writing.
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And there's another very interesting thing.
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It says. So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself and said unto
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them, he that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.
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And again, he stooped down and wrote on the ground. And then it says,
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and they which heard it. People are watching.
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People are listening.
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People have a vested interest sometimes in watching you fail.
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Sometimes it's in learning from you.
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Question to you is how are you looking at others
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are you looking at them hoping they'll
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fail watching waiting to see them to make a mistake
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or are you encouraging them to succeed are you
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supporting them are you helping them there are two people in the two kinds of
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people in this world the ones with the love of god who are trying to assist
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and help and love at all costs because love is sacrificial and love gives and
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then there are those that are like the scribes and the Pharisees that are just keeping score,
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watching to see if you're winning and losing,
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if you're good or bad, judging on every turn.
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Here's a question for you. Is there enough evidence in your day-to-day life
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to convict you of being a Christian?
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Do those who walk behind you, those who work with you, those who live with you,
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and those who live around you, know that you are a Christian.
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Not by your words, as much as by your actions.
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Are you a new creature in Christ Jesus?
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Have your old ways passed away, and now you are living solely and wholly for
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Jesus Christ? People are watching.
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It was more than just the scribes and Pharisees.
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It was more than it wasn't one scribe and one Pharisee.
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Now they were in the public place and they were watching. What is going to happen
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to this woman who was caught in adultery that they're bringing up to be punished?
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People were watching. And you may be the only Bible some people ever read.
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And you better be sure that you're living it the way he says it.
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And I'm telling you, these scribes and Pharisees, that's not what he said.
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He said we are to love one another as he has loved us.
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And oh, how he's forgiving and oh, how he's loving and oh, how he has turned our bad into good.
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Scribes and Pharisees, they're coming to watch her be punished,
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to watch her be killed. It's the irony of sin.
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It's when something seems one way, but it isn't.
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In verse 35 of John 13, he says, By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples,
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if ye have loved one to another.
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So the scribes and the Pharisees would have described themselves as amazing Christians.
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They thought they were the top of the line. They're probably seeing how they
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tried to educate God, thought that maybe Jesus could take some pointers from them.
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But the reality of it is, they were doing anything but following Christ's example.
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How's your day-to-day life? On Sunday and Wednesday, if you're one that goes
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twice a week, you might be a fantastic Christian.
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Or at least you look it. But what happens on Monday and Tuesday and Thursday
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and Friday and Saturday?
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You know, maybe you have that sweet, sweet voice.
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We used to call the church voice from a person in my neighborhood.
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We went to church with them and they sounded completely different at church
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than they did in their yard.
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I always thought it was funny because it certainly wasn't the acoustics.
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Church as the setting goes butter with
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the melt in their mouth but you couldn't find an
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ounce of love and kindness and encouragement and goodness and
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god help you if your football went in their yard it's kind of a scribe and pharisee
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moment the only person you're fooling is yourself the people around you know
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it and god certainly does but as we begin to look more closely at this account,
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we see that there's an incongruency between the Pharisees' actions and their own lives.
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Scripture doesn't tell us what he writes in the ground.
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It just says that he stoops down with his finger and he writes on the ground
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as though he didn't even hear the scribes and Pharisees.
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But they keep asking so he
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lifts himself up and he says he
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that is without sin let him cast the
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first stone and then he stooped down and he starts writing again i have an idea
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in my heart and mind what he wrote i don't feel that it was useless words I
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believe that as the crowd was gathered around him,
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he began to write their sins.
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Common sins, probably such as lying. You know, the white lie or the deceit or
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just tell part of the story.
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Ten commandments says thou shalt not lie. And anything that is deceitful is
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a lie. Anything that is not true is a lie.
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Or maybe he wrote stealing.
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Now, I highly doubt that any of you, within the sound of my voice,
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would walk into a store and stick a candy bar in your pocket.
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But what about when you file your income taxes?
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And the deductions? The home office that you're living in?
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The rules that are there and you just stretch the boundaries?
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About when the cashier accidentally gives you a 20 instead of a one somehow
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it's stuck together and you notice it but you just walk out finders keepers
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losers weepers what about when you just,
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steal the joy right out of somebody's soul because you crushed their dream or you're just so jealous,
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of what they have or who they are, that you're doing everything you can to cause them trouble.
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And then perhaps you just are like the scribes and the Pharisees, and they wrote judging.
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He who knew no sin is getting ready to pardon this woman, because every one
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of them there were guilty of their own sins.
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And they which heard it, being convicted of their own conscience,
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went out one by one, the oldest to the youngest.
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And then there was Jesus and the woman.
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I don't know what sins are in your life. I know what are in mine.
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And I know, he says, when I confess him, he forgives me.
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Do you know that hate is the same as murder?
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If you hate your brother, whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer.
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And you know that no Who murdereth hath eternal life?
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What about that friend that made a mistake and you just can't forgive?
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He says, for if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
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But if you forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive you yours.
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We so forget who we are. We are frail humans. We are fleshly.
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We have errors.
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We forget it. all because we saw somebody else make a sin, somebody else make a mistake.
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And so somehow we feel better, so we just slam every bit of accusation we have upon them.
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But no one there could pick up a stone and throw it because no one there was without sin.
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Yet they were sure trying to
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pick the sins of everybody else until Jesus started writing in the sand.
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What's he writing in the sand for you right now Those were all sins of commission
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Things that you did Things that you commit.
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Only those were the only ones. Many of us can keep our little selves clean,
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and we work hard to look good.
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If you're a person working hard to look good, not for the right reason,
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but just so you look good, and I don't mean exercise, which is fantastic for
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you to keep your body in shape, but let me remind you that the Bible says bodily
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exercise profit a little,
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but we all need to do it.
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That's just a comparison to what it means to really exercise your faith,
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to exercise your relationship with Christ.
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These sins of omission, like not praying, he tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5,
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17, that we are to pray without ceasing.
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An attitude of prayer is one that is in the center of God's will,
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one who has not got hidden sins in their life, one who is seeking Him,
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who is going after Him, who is living their life with the purpose of pleasing
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Him and spreading the gospel,
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one who is proud to be a member of the family of God, one that seeks to be used wherever, He says.
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Is that in your sand? Because you just don't have communication with God?
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How about the sin of not studying the Word?
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2 Timothy 2.15 says that we are the study to show ourself approved unto God,
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a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
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We've got to know what the word of God says. How can you claim his promises if you don't know them?
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We've got to know how to apply his word properly to every situation.
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Maybe it's just obedience. Scripture tells us that obedience is better than sacrifice.
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He wants to know that you love him with your whole heart, your mind,
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your soul, and your entire being.
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That he is one. He says, thou shalt have no other gods before me.
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That daily you'll take up your
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cross and you'll deny yourself and you will follow him wherever he leads.
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See as we go further when it's just him and the woman, just the two of them.
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That's how personal God is.
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He says in Revelations 3.20 that, Behold, I stand at the door and knock.
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If any man will open the door, I will enter in and I will sup with him and he
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with me. He'll fellowship.
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He's knocking at your heart's door. He wants to be number one in your life.
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He wants to be the most important thing in your life.
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He wants prominence over all things in your world.
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He never leaves you nor forsakes you, and he's right there in front of you.
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And for this woman, he asks a question.
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Woman, where are those thine accusers? Hath no man condemned thee?
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The only one that could judge did. He forgave.
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Yet we put ourselves like the scribes and Pharisees so many times in the place of judge.
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We judge whether it was good or bad. We judge whether they're holy or unholy.
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We judge whether they taught well or they didn't teach well.
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We judge whether they preach well, whether they don't preach well.
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We judge whether they sang well, whether they didn't sing well.
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We don't usually say, what an amazing gift they have given to get up and to
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give their talent to the Lord.
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That's not what we say. We say, man, she sings well.
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Yeah, so does a lot of people who are singing for Jesus.
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I think we're going to be pretty shocked when we get to the other side and we hear like he hears.
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Now, it could be that when we get the new road, we get new vocal cords,
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I don't know. But I guarantee you everybody there sounds wonderful.
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The sound of praise is melodic, regardless of the sequence of notes.
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Habits, the praise of his people. And there is nothing sweeter,
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nothing more beautiful than living in the presence of God.
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See, love covers it all.
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Love covers a multitude of sins, and what you see right here in this passage
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of Scripture is the demonstration of God's love.
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We read in scripture, Master, which is the great commandment in the law.
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Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and
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with all thy soul and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment.
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And the second is likened to it.
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Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang the law and the prophets.
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Matthew 22, 36-40.
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Loving the Lord with your entire being and loving others as yourself is the foundation of it all.
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So she answers and she said, no man, Lord. She calls him Lord.
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See what happens in this process? she calls him lord i don't think when they
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brought her to him she called him lord because it says,
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that he stooped down and he wrote she was just there but in the presence of
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him watching his forgiveness, watching his judgment,
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watching how he dealt with her, changed her.
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That one-on-one moment with her and Jesus changes everything.
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Because 1 Peter 4 says, love covers a multitude of sins.
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At all and jesus loves perfectly and jesus loves each of us in a way that only
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he can and if you love me you'll keep my commandments those sins of omission
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those sins of commission,
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they'll dissipate out of your life when you love him and you won't be like the
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scribes and the Pharisees because you'll realize what he's brought you from.
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You'll realize his daily forgiveness and his daily cleansing.
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You'll realize how he equips you, how he helps you, how he assists you,
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how he loves you, how he blesses you, how he uses you if you love him. Do you love him?
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The Pharisees were right. The law of Moses said, she should be stoned to death.
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But the love of Jesus said, neither do I condemn thee.
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Go and sin no more.
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Friends, it is better to do right than to be right.
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It is better to do right than to be right.
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You don't have to win the argument, but you do have to show the love of God.
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You don't have to walk away the victor but you do have to walk away the one
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that encouraged, that showed kindness, that showed love. Do you love him?
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For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever
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believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.
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Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.
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He who knew no sin did not condemn, but he forgave.
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You are his ambassadors.
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You've been charged to love as he loves, to follow his example,
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and to keep his commandments.
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I ask you again, is there enough evidence to convict you in the court of law
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of the accusation you are a Christian.
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Remember you are loved. Jesus loves you.
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Music.
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Joining us in today's podcast. You can visit the show notes for quotes from
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today's podcast and scripture references.
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We pray today has been a blessing and we encourage you to reach out to us through
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our app, our website, or our Facebook page.
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You can find our app by searching for Woman at the Well Ministries in your app
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store or through our website at watwm.org.
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We're on Facebook at facebook.com slash watwm.
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If you visit our website, you'll be able to subscribe to Bible Bits,
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a daily devotion written by Kim and delivered Monday through Friday by text message.
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Woman at the Well Ministries is a non-profit organization dedicated to serving
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our Heavenly Father, and it is through your loving and generous support that
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our ministry continues to bless others.
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To learn how to partner with Woman at the Well Ministries, please visit our website.
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Thank you to the Gospel Group Fudge Creek for letting us use their hit song, Happy Girl.
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We greatly appreciate your prayers. We are praying daily for our listeners.
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Remember that God loves you. You are loved.
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Music.