← ArchiveSunday, August 2, 2015DateAugust 2, 2015Speaker—TextJohn 8Passages in this sermonJohn 80:22Acts 96:33Romans 8:39:29Ephesians 1:712:31Matthew 518:35Romans 520:47Galatians 6:123:50Psalms 5125:451 John 136:44TranscriptClick any line to jump there.0:00Yeah, amen, excellent, excellent, excellent, excellent. If you brought your Bible, turn with me to John chapter 8, John chapter 8. Today, I want to speak to you about grace.0:28It's a word that we hear a lot. We sing about that amazing grace. Many of us understand it, but sometimes we just need a refresher on God's amazing grace. We live under this enormous canopy of God's grace. We live under that. Whether we receive it and accept it or not, this canopy that we live under is a canopy0:54of God's grace. And if we look at this passage today, I hope that it will speak to your heart and minister to you as it did me these last few weeks in preparing for it. John chapter 8, excuse me, verses 1 through 11, listen to what the word of God says. The New American Standard Version says, but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Early in the morning, he came again into the temple, and all the people were coming to him1:24and sat down and began, he began teaching them. The scribes and the Pharisees, you know, those two groups, they are interesting breed of animals, aren't they? The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery and having her set in the center of the court, and they said to him, teacher, this woman has been caught in adultery in the very act.1:49Now the law of Moses commanded us to stone such women. What then do you say? They were saying this, testing him so that they might find grounds for accusing him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger he wrote in the ground, and when they persisted2:13in 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. Again, he stooped down and wrote on the ground, and when they heard it, they began to go out one by one, beginning with the older ones, and he was left alone with the woman, and the2:39woman, and where she was, in the center of the court. Straightening up, Jesus said to her, woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you? Verse 11, she said, no one, Lord. And Jesus said, I do not condemn you either. Go from now, and sin no more.3:08Let's pray. Father, let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart, Lord Jesus, be acceptable in your sight. God, do your work in this place today. Let us experience your grace, your mercy, understand your love for us. God, thank you so much for your word. It never returns void. And Father, I pray as we unpack your word today, I pray, Father, we handle it accurately today,3:38that we can walk away from this place more encouraged and more in tune with your grace and your mercy. And Father, that we will be the kind of people that extends grace and mercy. And Father, we thank you so much for your word. It is a roadmap for daily living. It is a comfort blanket in time of need. It is a weapon of mass destruction when we need the sword of the Spirit.4:07And God, I thank you that we can hide the word in our hearts that we might not sin against you. And God, as we look at this passage of Scripture, that oftentimes we kind of just overlook this as another one of those stories. But God, the principles that are thickly found inside this passage, God, are for us today.4:29And I pray, God, we leave this place completely different than when we came. We love you. We praise you. And we thank you for your word. And we ask you to do your work. In Jesus' holy name we pray. And the church said, amen. The message truth is quite clear.4:57God's grace is him stooping down and giving me and you another chance. Now, when you think about that, God is stooping down to give us another opportunity in life. He's stooping down. He's reaching down from the halls of heaven to give us that additional opportunity. He is an abundance in grace. Now, I want to kind of set the tone in this particular passage and give you some clarity5:24about this passage, maybe to unpack it a little bit for you. And then I want to give you three principles here today that maybe will help us understand truly what God's grace is all about. Suddenly, the Lord's teaching was interrupted by the Pharisees and the scribes, the lawyers and the scribes. And they were always coming from the ranks of the Pharisees. The scribes were always coming from the ranks of the Pharisees.5:52And they were experts interpreting the Mosaic law. They always were strictly adhered to the law, the Mosaic law and their oratal traditions. The Pharisees were one of the more four major religious sects in first century Judaism. And with exception of Nicodemus, they were always found in hostility towards Jesus and his teaching or Jesus in the gospel of John.6:20Some would come to believe in Christ. Most notably, we know that Saul of Tarsus became Paul of Tarsus and the apostle Paul, the transformation on his life on the Damascus road in Acts chapter 9, if you want to look that up. He was one of the most noted of the Pharisees, a ruler, a Jew among Jews. The view of Jesus' popularity really alarmed these guys.6:45They were terrified of that because they feared they're losing their influence with the people and the retaliation by the Romans if Jesus' followers started some form of revolt. From a purely legal standpoint, however, they had a right to bring this woman up on charges. However, if you'll notice in this passage, they left one element of the equation out.7:13They left one element of the equation out. They left the man out of this equation. He was part of it. They found that she had been in adultery because the Bible says she was caught in the very act. Folks, it takes two to tango in that type of adulterous affair. You can't just have an adulterous affair by yourself.7:41So they took the man. They took him completely out. Obviously, they had seen him because the Bible says caught in the very act. There was really no need for them to bring this case before Jesus. Why? Because he was no judge. He was not a legal authority. There was no reason for them to bring this even to the religious council. This was an open and shut case.8:11The law demanded. The law commanded them to do this. The law gave them the authority to do this. Their motive was simply to trap King Jesus. Their whole motive for bringing this lady into this court, to bring her before Jesus, was to trap him. They were trying to find something against him to destroy his credibility. They thought if Jesus Christ had been—they caught him in this, what I call the proverbial rock and a hard place, so to speak.8:36They tried to discredit him. They said if he didn't find her guilty, he would be breaking Mosaic law, so therefore he would be discrediting his claim to be the Messiah. On the other hand, if he did not show compassion for this lady, he would lose all aspects of his humanity and his compassion for lost sinners. So brings a question to forefront here today.9:06How does God forgive sinners without violating the law? Have you ever thought about that? How does God forgive us sinners without violating the law? Well, it's quite simple. The answer is found in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ himself. Paul writes so beautifully to the Roman church in Romans chapter 8, verse 3. You know, verse 1 is one of my favorite verses.9:34There is there now. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. So there's no condemnation if you're a saved sinner by grace. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. But it goes on down to verse 3. For what the law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did, sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh. The likeness of sinful flesh. As an offering for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh.10:04So, folks, he sent Jesus Christ to wipe away the sinful man, a sin of sinful man. Jesus, his masterful answer here, neither minimized the woman's guilt nor denied the law's sanctity. But however, he handled this, pulled the rug completely right out from underneath these Pharisees. The way he handled this is a portrait of his unbelievable grace.10:33He pulled the rug right out from underneath him. We see this unbelievable divine forgiveness in Jesus. Now, let me give you a word of caution before you want to just live the way you want to live. The word, forgiveness is not a license to do what you want to do. Forgiveness is not a license for you to live the way you want to live and say, oh, I'm just under grace.11:03Jesus did not condemn this woman, but he did command her to abandon her lifestyle. He didn't condemn her. He said, go and sin no more. He said, go and don't live in this lifestyle any longer. This story is far more than a battleground for textual critics. This paints a marvelous picture of the Lord Jesus Christ who graciously shows his humility, his infinite wisdom, convincing speech, and tender forgiveness is the central theme of this particular text.11:32Now, don't misunderstand something. He's not saying that you can live the way you want to live. Act the way you want to act. Live by any standard by which you want to live. Folks, there are some clear, defined principles for us to consider here today.12:00God's grace is him reaching down to give us his mercy. God's grace is unmerited love towards sinful man. By the way, grace is mentioned 150 some odd times in Scripture. The Apostle Paul, a former Pharisee, he mentions it 130 times in his writings alone. So God's grace is important to us.12:29Ephesians chapter 1 verse 7. I know some of us don't like the book of Ephesians. It is full of doctrine and it's full of duty. And we should study it and unpack it into our long lives. Ephesians chapter 1 verse 7 says, In Christ we are set free by the blood of his death, and so we have forgiveness of sin. How rich is God's mercy? Folks, let me tell you something. God's grace is promised through the person of Jesus Christ.12:57God's grace is our protector in the person of Christ Jesus. God's grace is provided by Christ when we really do not deserve it. Most of us, including this preacher, do not deserve his grace. We do not deserve his mercy. But God loved us, but God being rich in mercy, and while we were yet sinners, he died for us.13:21He paid the price for us. Grace, God's grace always flows to the lowest point. One of my newest favorite pastors is a little pastor by the name of, his name is Pastor Julio Lopez. He pastors the Mount Zion Baptist Mission Church. It's not even an official church.13:51It's still in mission status of Jerusalem Baptist Church and San Pedro Sula, Honduras. Pastor Lopez prayed over our team after we conducted two days of vacation Bible school this past week in San Pedro Sula, where we had 90 children on a public school campus. For those of you public school teachers in this room, 90 children on a public school campus. They dismissed classes. Let me get this out so that you'll hear this. We dismissed classes at this public school in Honduras so that we, me and my team,14:19could have vacation Bible school for their school. Now, let me say that once again. We dismissed classes. Hallelujah. We dismissed classes on a public school campus in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, to conduct vacation Bible school. Amen.14:50Amen. Now, all the educators are shaking their head right now because they know I'll come back there and spank them if they don't, right? Right? I mean, we had a great day. It was amazing. And at the end of our four sessions, two in the, one in the morning, one in the afternoon, and the four sessions in two days, Pastor Lopez, who pastors Mount Zion Church in the community of Rio de Campo, where the school is located. He goes every week teaching this Word of God every week to these students every week.15:1490-plus kids. When we first started working with them, well, over a year ago, they only had 40 kids in school. You see what the gospel does? It multiplies public education. Amen. You see, God's grace reached down in that community. And as Pastor Lopez gathered our team around, we held arms and hands around each other. And he said, Lord Jesus, deposit them into your grace.15:44I could not, I fell completely in the dirt. I've heard a lot of people say things, but I've never heard a line like that. Lord, deposit them into your grace. That's my prayer today, is that God's grace reaches down into this congregation today,16:08this group of people in this room, maybe you're watching or viewing by internet, reach down wherever you are, and God deposits you into his grace. At the lowest point of this woman's life, caught in the very act, the Lord Jesus Christ reached down right there in that moment and deposited her in his grace.16:32I want to give you three points, and we're through this morning. Because I believe if we just unpack these principles and look at this scripture from the grace that God bestows upon every sinner in this room, we will walk away from here with a better understanding of the message of his grace.16:58The first principle is, God's grace introduces love into the heart of the law. He introduces love into the heart of the law. Now, verse 5 says, Now, in the law of Moses, commanded us to stone such women. What then do you say? They were saying this to test him so that they might have grounds for accusing him.17:28But Jesus stooped down, stooped down, and with his finger he wrote on the ground. I love that line. I'm wondering in my little infinite finite brain, what was he drawing in the dirt? I think it's something like this. I am about to blow you guys away. I'm going to knock your proverbial socks right off your body. I'm going to unlace your sandals and knock you completely aback.17:58You can be holding a rock, but you're going to be dropping them in just a second. He goes on to say he's stooping. He stoops down, and he's drawing into the dirt. And they continued to persist asking him. He straightened up and said to them, Who is without sin among you? Let him be the first to throw a stone at her. You see, God's grace introduces love right into the thick, right into the heart of the law.18:27Matthew 5, verse 7, the New American, or Matthew 5, verse 17, excuse me. Do not think that I came to abolish the law. The prophets, I did not come to abolish it, but to fulfill it. He came to fulfill the law. Not to abolish the law, but he's infusing love in the heart of the law in this particular story. And every one of us at some point in time, we've had things that we've received in the U.S. Postal Service18:57has dropped into our mailbox that we really didn't want. A few years ago, I got one that I didn't want. It was from that government official group called the Internal Revenue Service. You know, we pay our taxes on time. Our ministry pays taxes on time. Everything's good. And I get this letter. And I crack it up. And I'm saying, now, you all know that my wife is the secretary treasurer of our ministry.19:24And that's her gift. That's her strength. She loves that nuts and bolts stuff. You know, I deal with it some, but she loves that whole aspect. And I'm sitting there, mm-hmm, I got Miss Debbie now. I'm getting a letter from the IRS, and something's up here. I want to know what is going on here. I cracked that open up, and it said, you are now to report at a such-and-such day because your tax year is being audited.19:51I was furious. I said, how can they do this? We pay our taxes on time. Every one of us, some of us in this room, you know, the beauty part of this was we went to our accountant and said, okay, we got this letter. What are we going to do? I was, they're going to put us in jail. What's the deal here? What's going on here? He said, that's okay. No problem. I got it. So he does all this stuff, and then we get a refund back. I said, whoo, that's grace, amen?20:21We didn't take enough deductions on that particular year, and when they did the restructuring of that tax year, we got a small check back from the IRS. I wish I'd have gotten a larger one, but I'm not going to be greedy, amen? You see, God's grace is introducing love into the heart of the law. Romans 5, verse 20, the Message Bible says it this way. Beautiful passage.20:51Beautiful passage. All that passing law against sin did was produce more lawbreakers, but sin did not and does not have a chance in competition with the aggressive forgiveness we call grace. When it comes, when it comes, when it's sin versus grace, grace wins hands down. God's grace introduces love into the heart of the law. Second principle this morning for you. God's grace throws ropes, not rocks.21:18God's grace throws ropes, not rocks. Pick it up in verse 8. And again, he stooped down and wrote in the ground. And when he heard it, and when they heard it, they began to go out one by one, beginning with the olders, because they're the wise guys. They said, this is fixing to get ugly. We're getting out of here. And he was left alone with the woman where she was in the center of the court.21:44Listen to me, church. Come in here close. We, in the New Testament church in America, we desperately need to throw ropes, not rocks. We desperately need to be a house, a place where people can come and not be, rocks be thrown at them. We need to not throw rocks at each other.22:12All of us are created in the image of Christ. All of us are created in the image of Christ and saved by his glorious grace. If we are saved, we are all saved by the same grace. And why do we want to throw rocks at other grace journeymen? Why do we want to do that? Because we want our own agendas taken care of, usually. We don't like the music.22:41It's too loud. It's too soft. It's too long. The preaching's too short. The preaching last week, too long. Where is he? Thank you, Brad. You made me feel so much better preaching a 58-minute message, brother. That means I can go a little longer today. Amen. But we throw rocks at each other. And the world's sitting there watching those of us that are grace followers. We've accepted grace, and they see us throwing the rocks at each other.23:10God's grace throws ropes, not rocks. I've been to these conventions in our own tribe called Southern Baptist, and we stand around, and we hear the clergy, the pastors, talking about other pastors. And I just, it's appalling.23:39And we wonder why our church people are throwing rocks at us, because we're guilty of throwing the rocks ourselves. Listen to what Galatians chapter 6, verse 1 and 2, the Destin's Bible. I don't preach from it, but the language is so beautiful. Brothers, if someone is caught in sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. Carry each other's burden in this way, and you will find the law of Christ. Stooping down and reaching out to those who are oppressed, share their burdens, and so complete24:09Christ's law. If you think you are too good for that, then you are badly deceived. Church, we need desperately to throw ropes and not rocks. Why do some churches grow and expand their ministry? Because I think they're grace-driven ministries. Now, church, do you want to be that?24:39Let's start heaving some ropes out of here and take the rocks and put them somewhere else. If they've fallen out of your head, put them back in there. Amen. So we must throw ropes and not rocks. Rather than restore, we want to rebuke those that are in issues with their lives. We must begin to throw ropes, not rocks. God's grace introduces love into the heart of the law.25:07And finally, God's grace transforms sinful behavior into songs of faith. Listen to what it says in verse 10. Straighten it up. Jesus said to her, woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you? And she said, no one, Lord. And Jesus said, I do not condemn you either.25:32Go from now on and sin no more. I love Psalms 51. And again, the Message Bible has such a beautiful portrait. The painting of the Message Bible in this particular passage just is so beautiful. The narrative is gorgeous. Listen to what Psalms 51, verse 1 through 3, 7 through 12, and then verse 15.26:01Listen as I read it. Generous in love. God, give grace. Huge in mercy. Wipe out my bad record. Scrub away my guilt. Soak out my sins in your laundry. I know how bad I've been. My sins are staring me down. Soak me in your laundry, and I'll come out clean. Scrub me, and I will have a snow-white life.26:28Tune me into foot-tapping songs. Tune me into foot-tapping songs. Set these once broken bones to dancing. God, make my flesh start in me. Make a fresh start in me. Shape a Genesis week in the chaos of my life. Don't throw me out with the trash or fail to breathe holiness in me. Bring me back from gray exile. Put a fresh wind in my sails. Unbutton my lips, dear God.26:57I'll loose with your praise. Church, let me tell you something. When we understand God's grace, it transforms sinful hearts into songs of praise. Many of you know this gentleman. When I say his name, you're going to know him. Maybe you even own some of his music. But I remember when he showed up at our church. I happened to be there the first Sunday he showed up at our church.27:23He shows up at our church with hair down about halfway down his neck and a suit that he wore in high school. Now, the church that I am a member of, we're like this church, very relaxed in its casual dress. And, in fact, in the matter, at that time, our pastor usually preached in tennis shoes. I don't know why he did that. He said he just felt it was more comfortable. But that was just kind of his thing. And it was a very relaxed atmosphere.27:51And the worship and praise and music was pretty incredible. And the preaching was really good. And the place was energized. And this guy, I happened to be sitting about the second row back in one of our sections. I was off that Sunday. And this guy comes down and sits on the front row. And he had long hair and a suit that he literally had to prize together to button so it would fit. I guess he thought that the last time he'd been in church, that's what he wore. And so he shows up. And I just, we had the greeting time.28:21And I greet him. And he says, hi, my name is Kevin. I'm a guest here. I've never remembered. Somebody told me, did y'all let guys like me in? I said, absolutely, we let guys like you in. And, brother, feel free to take that coat off if you want to. So drop that thing if you want. He said, do you mind? I said, no, man, take it off. Take that tie off. It looks like it's kind of choking you a little bit there, buddy. He said, if you don't feel like it. But leave it on if you feel that way because we don't care. We're more concerned about where you're going, not where you came from. Because that's what God's grace is all about.28:51And join in to this music. He said, man, I didn't think y'all had a band. I said, yeah, we got a band. And we used instruments and all kinds of good stuff. And we got singers. And sometimes we'll put a bunch of them together and call it a choir. And, you know, we just have a, you know, we're here to worship one person. He said, well, that's great. I said, why don't you come back here and sit with me if you want? He said, fine. And so he, Moses, back there and me and Debbie and Seth were sitting there on the road.29:19And it just got, you could just see God had just done a work in his life. So after the service, I asked him, I said, well, man, tell me your story. And he said, well, I was playing in a concert, at a rock concert and a bar in Panama City Beach, Florida, a couple of nights ago. And I just, I'm just, I'm struggling. He said, physically, I'm not well.29:49And he said, I've just been struggling. I said, well, man, you know, we have a, the Jehovah Rapha, the God of healing, he can do that. It's on his time frame, though. And he said, I've got lung problems and I smoke and I've got, I quit those cigarettes and, but I'm really struggling. I don't do drugs anymore. I said, well, that's good. You're on the right path, at least, to physically getting well. And he said, I was on my way back from Panama City Beach, Florida, and it was about 2 o'clock in the morning, and I just couldn't take it any longer, so I pulled my car off on the side of the road.30:15I said, what did you do that for? He said, man, I couldn't do anything. I didn't know if God would hear me, so I just got out, and I knelt down behind my car, and he said, man, I just, I didn't know what to do. I remember growing up in Selma, in a Baptist church down in Selma, Alabama, and hearing my preacher at that time, he used to call out and call to the Lord. And I didn't know what to do, so I just prayed.30:44I just started talking to God, and I said, I know you probably don't know me. I said, oh, yeah, he does, knows every curly hair on your head, knows everything about you. He said, I just confess to you right now, I can't go another foot in this life like I am. I don't know what you want to do with me, but I'm done. I said, man, that's a great, that's a great start right there. And he said, I just, I said, Lord, I just, I don't know what to do. I don't know where to start. I don't know where to go.31:13I don't know what to do. All I want to do is I just can't go this way anymore. And I just, I'm asking you to cleanse my heart. And I'm asking you to come into my life if you so fit to just give me a piece of your love. And he said, I got back in the car, and the cigarette smoke had been smoked in there for so many years, I couldn't take it. I had to drive home with the windows down. I couldn't take it. I couldn't take the smell. When I got home at about 6 a.m. that morning, I called the only guy that I knew that was a Christian.31:41The only guy that I knew that was a Christian lived two doors down from me. I said, man, I don't know what I did, but I stopped the car this morning on the way back from playing the concert, and I couldn't take it any longer. I just, man, I just, I couldn't go another step. I couldn't drive another foot. And I called out to the Lord, and I don't know what I did, but I feel a whole lot better right now.32:07He said, I don't know what it is. I can't take them. I tried to smoke a cigarette with some coffee a few minutes ago, and I'm about choked. He said, I can't smoke them things anymore. And so he kept telling me the story, and he said, I don't know what to do. He said, well, you need to go to church. He said, man, you need to go worship with me. He said, you mean there was a church, there's a group of people that let a guy like me in their church? He said, yeah, I know a church.32:36It's called the church at Brook Hills. They don't throw rocks. They throw ropes. That church wants you bad. They need you. He said, they don't know me. He said, that's why they need you. They need to get to know you, and you need them. It'll be a great partnership. He said, okay, I'll go. So he shows up on that Sunday in that suit and tie because he said, you know, the last time I went to church, I went back in my closet.33:00It was my senior year in high school. This is the coat I had. This is the suit I had. He said, I like. He was dying. You could tell. He was hurting in those clothes because he is like most of us in this room, including this preacher. He put on a couple of pounds since high school, and so that suit wasn't fitting good, and so he goes to church that day, and I said, man, we are so glad you're here. You see, he came to church.33:30You see, he came to church of Brook Hills, not because we're a great church, but he heard a guy say, we serve a great Savior. And that's what we desire to do. We're here to throw a rope, not a rock at you. And he sits and listens to that music, and we introduce him to our worship leader at the time, and the rest is history. And now he's in Christian ministry as a worship leader at Westwood Baptist Church in Alabastery. And you've probably had him here.33:59His name's Kevin Derryberry. You see, he took a sinful behavior and turned it into songs of praise. And he's done that for every one of us that have received his salvation in this room. Sometimes we forget the grace salvation, don't we?34:23Sometimes we get caught up in doing church, and we forget to be the church. Sometimes we get so caught up in our own world and our own agenda that we forget that God infuses, introduces love in the heart of the law. He throws ropes for us each and every day.34:50He never throws a rock at us. And he transforms a sinful behavior in our life into songs of faith. You see, God stoops down every day, figuratively, and reaches down and gives us a second chance in life. Every day he gives us on this side of the cross, it's another opportunity to receive and present his glorious grace to those who are hurting.35:17Today, if you've never truly invited Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, he is reaching down to give you that opportunity to receive his grace and his mercy for all of eternity.35:35But the choice is yours. Maybe you're here today, and it was eons ago when you received that grace and mercy salvation.36:05And you kind of got caught into the world. And you got caught into the sinful nature of the world. And you need an infusion of his love into the law of your life. You need to drop the rocks and grab a hold of the rope. Maybe you're here today, and you have that sinful lifestyle, and God is speaking to your heart to say, Dan, today I am grabbing a hold of those songs of praise today.36:28The Bible says in 1 John 1, 9, if you'll confess with your mouth, he's faithful and just to cleanse you of all unrighteousness. The choice is yours. Let's pray.36:58Let's pray. Let's pray. Let's pray. Let's pray. Let's pray.More sermons on John →
