Adultery and the Case for Grace: What Jesus Really Does with Your Sin | Jonathan Evans

Jesus did not leave with the rest because when he wrote the law, he would be the only one who gets to stay. And even though he has the full right to hold that stone and take us out, Jesus says, "I don't condemn you either. We're going to get into God's word.

Anybody ready for the word in the house and online? The cloud is filling the temple. His presence is here. I want you to open your Bibles to John chapter 8. John chapter 8. And we're going to see as we trek through this why it is well with our souls.

John chapter 8. I'm going to read verse 2 through 11. Early in the morning, he came again into the temple, and all the people were coming to him, and he sat down and began to teach them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery, and having set her in the center of the court.

They said to him, "Teacher, this woman has been caught in adultery in the very act. Now, in the law of Moses commanded us to stone such a woman, what then do you say?" They were saying this, testing him so that they might have grounds for accusing him. But Jesus stooped down and with his finger wrote on the ground.

But they were persisting and asking him, and 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 and the woman where she was in the center of the court, straightening up, Jesus said to her,"Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?" She said, "No one, Lord." And Jesus said, "I do not condemn you either. Go from now on. sin no more.

Today I want to talk to you from the title Caught in the Act. Caught in the act. You may be seated in the house. We're going to get rolling in verse two as we track through this. What it says is that Jesus came to the temple again. He spent much time in the temple teaching the people.

I mean from the time he was a little kid, his parents when they found him found him in the temple teaching and they were amazed at his authority to teach. Even when they were selling and buying and selling in the temple, he got angry and kicked them out and said, "My father's house is not this."

But he would often teach in the temple and he would say stuff like John 5:24 it says, "He who hears my word and believes in him who sent me will have eternal life." He would say things like John 5:48, he says, "Y'all know about Moses. That means you should know about me.

He wrote about me." In other words, he was trying to teach them in the temple who he is. And he would show up again and again for that purpose. In John chapter 7, he's in the temple verse 38 and he says that he who believes on me will have rivers of flowing water.

And so again and again he's saying, "Hey y'all, I know you know the scriptures. I'm here. I'm trying to let y'all know who I am." And then in chapter 8, he says he enters the temple again so that he could teach them. I wonder what he was going to say.

Maybe something like, "Hey y'all, y'all be reading the Bible, don't you?" But if you read the Bible and you don't see me in it, you're missing the point. So again and again, the written word was taught by the living word so that they could see who he is. again and again.

In other words, if you read your Bible again and again, if you do it because you want to read a verse a day to keep the devil away, or you do it because it makes you feel good, or you do it because you want to memorize scripture so that anytime you get in a debate, you can hold your own, or you do it because you want to sound smart, or you're an intellectual, but you do all of that and you miss Jesus.

((applause)) You're missing the point. The whole Bible is about Jesus Christ. Moses even said in Deuteronomy 18:15, he said, "There is a prophet who is coming. You must listen to him." He was talking about Jesus. So all through the Bible, he's trying to help them understand that you just don't get in the Bible for religious activity.

You get in there to know me. But he's in the temple again and again. He's in the temple again and again. that people would listen to him in the temple again and again and they would leave the temple still confused, not understanding who he is. People today are in the temple again and again.

They're in the temple because they want a good kickoff to the week. They're in the temple because their parents woke them up and made them come. They're in the temple because it's a religious activity. It's tradition. This is what we do on Sunday in the Bible belt. But if you come to the temple again and again and you don't know Jesus, relate to Jesus, take up your cross and follow Jesus and advance his kingdom, you're missing the point.

This is why in America we have so much church shoppers. people who are bouncing from church to church trying to figure out which one is going to tickle their ears. They're trying to figure out which one is going to make me feel good. Where am I going to like this and like that?

And so they're shopping churches because they're totally missing the point. It's about Jesus. And I want you to know at Oak Bible Fellowship, it doesn't we we don't we don't have stars and celebrities. There's only one celebrity and one star in this house and that's Jesus Christ because you can be in such a routine that you're never on route to a relationship with him.

Even me y'all when I now that I'm getting into this, you know, preaching every week ((applause)) thing, these Sundays don't come quick to y'all. They come quick to me. And I know now I can get caught in a routine of teaching you about Christ and I can get further from it because I'm using every week to get prepared for you so that I can help us all understand the scriptures, but I can be in such a routine that I start to miss Jesus.

I forgot about what I preached two weeks ago because it's going by so fast. We already in May. March marched in and marched right out. And if you're not careful, you can get caught in the routine and missed the entire point for the reason why you have been called.

It's about Jesus Christ and he is teaching you for a relationship with him. That's why he's in the temple. and he's in the temple again trying to teach scene one. And then in scene two at verse three, the scribes and the Pharisees come into the building. The scribes and the Pharisees come into the building with an adulterous woman and they plant her in the center of the court and say she's been caught in adultery in the act.

Hold up now. ((applause)) Jesus is talking and you come in with your own program to cut him off while he's teaching because I guess what you got going on is more important than what he has to say. And so they brought her in the center of the court. That means right here Jesus is talking.

Not me. I'm this illustration. Don't get no sound bites and put them up. Jesus is talking and they come in the center of the court with their own program and whatever they want to push that day. They bring her into the center and tell everybody what's going on.

Okay, Jesus is talking. To me, that means you be quiet and sit down. You don't come in with your own plan and program as legitimate as you may think it is while he's talking. See, a lot of people, they don't do exugesus. They do is Jesus. Now, let me explain the difference.

Exugesus is when you allow the scriptures to tell you what to think and what to do. The scriptures are defining you. Isa Jesus is when you have your own thoughts, your own history, your own plan, and you try to get the scriptures to agree with you. See, a lot of people, they read the Bible, but they only come to the word so that they can get it to agree with them to feel good about what they trying to do.

The people who were sitting there were sitting there trying to get exesus, but the Pharisees came in there for is of Jesus. While you're talking, we want to tell you our program and we want you to respond to us. The you got to watch out for scribes and Pharisees and the lawyers because these are people who are dressed well, but they're not well-dressed.

The these are people who look the part, but they're not the part. These are people who are guardians of tradition, but they are neglectctors of compassion. These are people who are experts in the doctrine, but they're strangers to grace. That they're diligent when it comes to judgment, but they have very little devotion to the life of Jesus.

They look like it, but they're not it. Okay, y'all looking around like, I wonder who he's referring to. Let me just say it this way. Be careful that you don't become so churched that you end up nothing like Christ. Because if the truth be told, when you get so self-righteous that you cutting God off to prove your points, these people are Christians can be some of the most judgmental, condemning, tongue-cutting, unloving, unmerciful, ungracious people all while quoting scripture.

They put her in the middle of the court and modern day put her on blast, aired out the dirty laundry, spilled the beans, and dropped the deets. Y'all don't know what that is. ((applause)) Because self-righteous people, self-righteous people love to center other people's issues. They actually get joy in it because it's really a quest to validate themselves.

Self-righteous people center other people's unrighteousness. Sinners saved by grace only center Jesus to unrighteous people. There is a difference. That's why in Matthew 23, Jesus has a name for these people. He calls them vipers in the temple but snakes. Nothing like the faith, brood of vipers. He says, blind guides and hypocrites. make sure that we are not the ones doing what these people did.

Nothing like Matthew 18 talking about how she did this, this, that, and the other. Yeah. Yeah. The Bible don't tell you to start out with airing people's dirty laundry like that. Bible tell you go straight to them. Yet we are online airing it out and putting scriptures in the comments to tell somebody else how wrong they are.

And at the same time, you disobeying the scriptures. You a sinner. And I'm a sinner saved by the grace of Jesus Christ. What gives me the right to air out what somebody else is doing instead of giving them the same grace, mercy, so that they can see Jesus just like I needed.

And here she is in the center of the court. And the Pharisees do what they do. They get going. They said she was caught in adultery. Let me cut you off. Tell you what I think. Watch this. And she was caught. You read over this part. She was caught in the very act.

((applause)) I stopped there for a second. I didn't read over that part. I said in the act. ((applause)) Ooh, I have questions. And the questions that I have were not for her. The questions that I have were for them. I said, "So, you caught her in the act?" Okay. She was caught in the act.

How long were you there? ((applause)) That was question number one. I was like, "And how close were you to the act that you caught?" Because because you had to have been there long enough and close enough to know who this is in relation to who that is to know that she was committing adultery because that's in other words they were there to be able to say hey guys I think that's so and so's wife.

How do you know that? Yeah. Okay. Basically they were watching only fans. ((applause)) Look at some of the older folks like what does Only Fans mean? That's good that you don't know. And they were on their phone long enough to recognize somebody in it ((applause)) because typically people catch people when they're there, too.

And I know this is an unrighteous group of vipers because they caught her in the act. Okay. And they brought the woman to the center of the court. Now, if you caught her in the act of adultery, I got another question. ((applause)) Where the man at? So you in here trying to prove your point.

But see, self-righteous people are selective on what they judge. They'll judge it as long as it's not a reflection of themselves. It's a reflection of themselves. They'll leave it out. This is why people struggle in relationships because they're self-righteous. They can only see the problem with the other person.

But when told about themselves, they have no idea what you're talking ((applause)) about. They will admit though if you ask them, "Are you perfect?" They're going to say, "No." But then when you bring something up, they always have a defense. That's a contradiction. We have to be able to see ourselves clearly.

They were picking and choosing on what they judged. Um, Matthew 7 says it this way. Don't spend so much time with the speck in somebody else's eye. When you have a plank or a log in your eye, but they had their own agenda. Yes, they did. to go public, get on social media, and air out the dirty laundry, be unbiblical while claiming somebody else is unbiblical.

And they put her in the center of the court. In verse 5, they brought up the Bible. The law of Moses says we should stone this woman. That's right. Actually, Leviticus 2:10, Deuteronomy 22:22 says you should stone both of them because when you're doing what they're doing, you only want to use parts of the Bible that fit and they said these words, "Jesus, what then do you say?"

Yeah. Notice the position they put her in. They caught her in adultery. She is, yes, deserving of judgment. Let me pause it for a second. Hey, all of us are the adulterous woman in the story. We have cheated on God again and again and again and again. We are yes deserving of judgment for our actions.

But what did they do? They weren't banking on this. They put her in the center of the court because of judgment. But they presented her to Jesus. She thought it was over. They thought it was over, but the case was presented to Jesus Christ. All I'm saying is I'm so glad that when I was caught in the act, my case was presented to Jesus Christ.

Matter of fact, I'm glad I was caught. Cuz many of us, if the truth be told, if you had not been caught, you'd still be in somebody else's bed. If you had not been caught, you'd still be addicted. If you had not been caught, you'd still be running the streets.

If you had not been caught, you'd still be out there clubbing. If you had not been caught, you would still be in the word. It was God allowing you to get caught that put you in a position of Jesus so you can be saved. So I even though the Pharisees were doing this in an evil way by the end of this story, she can thank the fair.

You can thank your haters because they meant it for evil, but God meant it for good to bring me to this place. God is able to make all things work out for good. He's able to turn it around. Even when people were talking bad about you, judging you, condemning you, the fact is somewhere along the lines, you met Jesus.

Oh yeah, the law they presented can only reveal the sin. That's right. Jesus can heal the sinner. The law they presented can only in and of itself bring consequence. But they put it in front of Jesus and he can bring change. The law they presented only penalizes. But they put her in front of Jesus and he purifies.

The law they presented only brings a trial. But Jesus brings transformation. The law they presented brings a fine against you. But Jesus brings freedom to you. Yeah. They put her right in front of Jesus while he was talking and they wanted to accuse her and be the vipers that they are going public with judgment while grace is in mid-sentence.

Um they did this testing him. Really they were using her as bait. The goal was Jesus. And you'll notice in other religions because they live by the law. There's only one difference between other religions and and Christians, it's grace. Every other religion is trying to abide by the law.

Therefore, canceling out the necessity for Jesus cuz due to our own self-righteousness, we will save ourselves. They're trying to cancel Jesus and they're just using her as bait. That's what false religions do. Um, but have you ever fished in a smart pond? You know what a smart pond is?

It's a It's a pond where the fish have been fished so often that they look at your bait ((applause)) like you feel like you caught one, but he just nibbled the whole bait off and you pulled it up with a clean hook. They were fishing Jesus and they about to get a clean hook because when they came to him and they said, "What do you say?"

Trying to test him on the matter. Jesus stooped down and began to write in the ground with his finger. And then they kept persisting. What do you say about this lawb breakaker? Jesus said he's a beast. He stood up. He who has no sin cast the first stone.

I mean that was like a 45minut sermon in one sentence. And then he stooped down again and wrote in the ground again. And it says that all of them one by one dropped their stones ((applause)) and got put to shame. But the question is, OCBF, what did he write?

See, the Bible does not tell you what he wrote. Some commentators said it doesn't really matter what he wrote. It's because they were in the presence of Jesus and his presence induced the reality within themselves that they shouldn't be doing this. Yeah. I said, "Ah, I want to know what he ((applause)) wrote."

Had to sit in there a little bit longer and pray. But I believe that there are some clues that tell us what he wrote. Clue number one, in context, they're talking about the law. That was the question. Yeah. What then do you say about the law? Clue number two, he said, "He who has no sin, cast the first stone."

So, he's talking about them in relationship to the law. But the big clue is clue number three. And you'll miss it. He wrote with his finger. There is another time in the Bible God uses his finger to write. It's in Exodus 31:18. He's with Moses and he's giving him the tablets that have been written by the finger of God.

And since Jesus is God in the flesh and uses his finger like God the Father did in the Old Testament. Yeah. What I would say that he was writing as he's telling them who who has no sin cast the first stone is he was going thou shalt have no other gods before me.

Thou shalt not make unto thee any grave in image. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. Honor thy father and thy mother. Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not steal.

Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. Thou shall not coveret thy neighbor's house or anything that is thy neighbors. And if that didn't get you, let me go over to another piece of sand and write the 613 statutes and ordinances that go with those ten commandments.

And as the finger of God was in the sand, it was a reminder to them that they themselves should be stoned. So then the question is who was really caught in the act? ((applause)) Both one was caught to salvation. The others were caught to condemnation. If you think by the law, you can be saved.

Galatians 2:16 says, "By works of the law, no flesh will be justified." The only thing the law is good for is condemning you. To let you know how much you do wrong. But Jesus heals. And so he let them see themselves clearly. and everyone emptied out. In verse 9, it says it was just Jesus and her by themselves in the center of the court.

I guess Jesus taught a good message that day with much fewer words. They became the illustration when they walked in and interrupted him. And then Jesus became facitious, sarcastic. You know when you beat somebody? Verse 10, he straightened up. And Jesus said to her,"Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?"

Of course, that's facitious. He already knew they came there to condemn him. And he's the one who sent him out. And he said, "Where did they go? Did no one come to condemn you? I.e., we won that. That was a clean hook." And she said, "No one, Lord."

And then Jesus said, "I do not condemn you either." Um, okay. Jesus said, "I do not condemn you either." ((applause)) Now, okay, this is why you got to understand. Okay? Jesus did not leave with the rest because when he wrote the law, he would be the only one who gets to stay.

And so he stands there in total perfection as the only legitimate person in the temple who has the full right to throw a stone. He has the full right to judge. He has the full right to take you out. He has the full right to condemn you. He has the full right for you and I to live no more because we are the adulterous person standing in the middle of the court.

And even though he has the full right to hold that stone and take us out, Jesus says, "I don't condemn you either." Um, you and I are Goomemer. Goomer. Who's Goomer? She is the adulterous woman that Hosea was chasing. We are her. And Jesus loved us so much that he says I don't condemn you either because there is therefore no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus who the son sets free is free indeed.

So he tells her at the end go and sin no more. Um, that's not possible. And he knows it's not possible. But you need to understand that the Bible doesn't coach you based on your ability. The Bible coaches you based on its standard. Be steadfast, unmovable. Always abound in the work of the Lord.

Know that it will not go in vain. It's not coaching you based on your ability. He's coaching based on his standard. You say, "Well, what do I do? I I can't be perfect." Well, but if you chase perfection, you'll at least catch excellence. If you're a Christian who recognized that you should have been stoned and you've been taken off death row because of the grace of God and by the law, you should be condemned.

Yet because of the life, death, resurrection of Jesus Christ, you have been saved. It shouldn't take much for you to give your life to him. It shouldn't take much for your life to be different. You should be in so much gratitude that even though you are not sinless, you should sin less.

Our lives in the church should be different because of these words. I do not condemn you either. Even though you were caught in the act, give him a hand clap of praise for the word today. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for saving us, for not condemning us. I'm thankful that I was caught so that my case could be presented to you.

Help me to remember what you've done for me so that I can give grace to others. I don't want to be dressed well but not well-dressed. Oh Lord, we give you the glory. And anyone comes into the house today, Lord, we just pray, Lord, they realize this is not a place of condemnation and judgment.

This is a place where Jesus reigns and rules. And in this temple, we say we weren't condemned. We do not condemn you either. In Jesus name, all God's people said, "Amen.