One
morning Jesus went to the temple and a crowd of people came to him, he sat down
and began to teach them. The scribes and
Pharisees brought a woman found (caught) in adultery and set her in front of
Jesus, they wanted to try him to see if he would adhere to the law of
Moses.They said, "Now Moses in the law
commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou?”These sly old foxes thought they had the best
of Jesus unknowing that he was the Son of God, the word of God made flesh.As they pushed the matter Jesus paid them no
attention, He bent down and began to write with his finger on the ground. The
scribes and Pharisees felt they were being ignored, so they continued pressing
Him about how He would deal with this woman.When he had finished writing he rose up and said, "He that is without
sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.” And went down again and
wrote on the ground the second time.In
writing on the grown it may seem like a simple thing, but I see it as one of
the greatest things that Jesus did of many, John never took the time to tell us
what Jesus wrote on the ground with his finger.I have often asked believers the question, what did He write and I have
gotten several different answers, but no one could really say, seeing that we
were never told what was written, we have to assume or speculate the mysterious
something that Jesus was doodling on the ground.
As
He wrote the second time and when they heard what He had said, the words
convicted their conscience, and they left one by one, from the oldest to the
last man who had saw what He written.Jesus finished he stood up and saw only the woman in front of Him, and
He asked her of those that had accused her and those that had condemned
her?She replied, No man, Lord.Then Jesus spoke the words which is why I
call it one of the greatest things that Jesus did, "Neither do I condemn thee:
go, and sin no more.”Here in is the key
to knowing what Jesus wrote on the ground, go and sin no more, and he that is
without sin cast the first stone.He
told those that were standing there ready to kill this woman in a heartbeat,
that if anyone there had not sinned then and only then could they be able to
carry out the sentence for the crime.John tells us in his first epistle, that whosoever committeth sin
transgresseth also the law:for sin is
the transgression of the law. So I ask you, can you tell me what it was that He
wrote on the ground?God gave Moses the
Law to show us what sin was, and on Mount Sinai God wrote the law with his
finger on tables of stone and delivered them to Moses. When Moses came down
from the mount and saw the children of Israel in sin of idolatry, in his anger
for God and the Law that God had just given him, he cast the tables of stone to
the ground and it had to be written again by the finger of God.So I submit to you that Jesus wrote the Ten
Commandments with his finger in direct fulfillment of this prophecy. (Jn. 8:
1-11Ex. 31:18, 1Jn. 3:4, Deut. 9:18)
Jesus
here shows the great love and compassion for which he was sent into the world.
Even the Scribes and Pharisees knew that they were not without sin, though they
were the ones who were keepers of the law.If you are a believer today, I am sure that at least once in your life
you have heard the scripture John 3:16, the following verse tells us that God
did not send His son into the world to condemn it; but by His son the world
might be saved.There are many out there
that have been turned off to God, Jesus, and church because they hear are the
shalt’s and thou shall not’s.The burden
that some Christians place on those that are living in sin and the condemnation
is a far cry from why Jesus came to earth.If the Law of Moses could have made those that were given it perfect
then God would not have needed to send his son. (Heb.7:19)Why is it today that so many different
denominations and Christians today believe that if you do not teach and believe
like they do, you are going to hell?Yes
strait gate is narrow and wide is the gate, and broad is the way that will take
one to destruction, and so many today are on that road with no hope. (Mt.
7:13-14)What most Christians fail to
see is that we are not in the Day of Judgment yet, but they will judge you and
condemn you.Did not Jesus say, "Judge
not, that ye be not judged.” (Mt. 7:1)We see Jesus telling the woman caught in adultery go and sin no more,
not my sentence is.Jesus didn’t even
have to explain what he wrote down on the ground, the word spoke for
itself.Our job as preachers and
believers is to plant the seed and to warn the sinner with the word of God and
let them hear or not hear.Whom we preach,
warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present
every man perfect in Christ Jesus: (Col.1:28) He that believeth on him is not
condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not
believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. (Jn. 3:18)
I
have heard believers today say to me that it is a hard way to go, that living a
holy life is too difficult.I tell them
to just say no, be strong and resist the devil and he will flee from you; he is
only out there to steal, and to kill, and destroy what God has given and makes
the other seem the easy way.They are
telling me then that they are weak and are willing to give up so easily, when
in reality the broad road is hard and we see if every day, with the things that
please the flesh easily accessed.To say
yes to say yes to the flesh turns out to be a rough row to hoe.If thou hast run with the footmen, and they
have wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with horses? and if in the land
of peace, wherein thou trustedst, they wearied thee, then how wilt thou do in
the swelling of Jordan? (Jer. 12:5)Simply put, if as a believer and there is no pressure to serve the Lord
how can we say it is hard, what will we do if it is not so easy?If we have difficulty serving God in the land
where we are free to worship the god of our choice and the government doesn’t
keep you from it, what will you do if they begin to tell you where, when and
who you can worship?Will you be as the
parable of the sower and the stony ground?Hearing the word of God receiving it with joy, yet not having root in
him or herself, we see them last for a little while, but the word has not yet
taken root.Then when tribulation or
persecution comes they are pluck up and back in their old ways. (Mt.
13:20-21)By not truly hearing the word
God and becoming just a surface Christian, they condemn themselves by not
taking heed to the word.Thy word have I
hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. (Ps.119:11)Being a believer is a job and it takes work,
Jesus said take my yoke upon you and learn of me.How many believers out there have a bible and
really use it, applying it to their lives, or read the bible more than once a
week. Sure it is hard if you do not know what you are doing, and have never
read the instruction manual.Have you
ever been given a job that you have never done before?Without the instruction the task before you
seems impossible, but with the instructions and especially with picture
instruction it makes the job seem simple.God gave us the instructions in righteousness, that we will not be
caught off guard and be found lacking in the way of life.
Jesus
told us that his coming would be like the days of Noah, and don’t even think of
Noah at all.We think Jesus was just
saying that life will be going on as usual and one day He will come back and
the believers will be suck up into the air and those that are left behind to
wonder what just happened.As long as
man is on the earth there will be eating and drinking, marrying and given
marriage, building houses and life will seem normal, right up until the time of
the flood.We see churches building and
building and their Christian lives go on. Where is the preparation for the
flood to come, oh yes I remember we are supposed to miss it and be caught up to
meet the Lord and all we have to do is believe in Jesus Christ and we will be
saved from all that will come.Seems
very simple, there is no need to watch and wait after all we are saved, and
what is all this take my yoke and learn business, if salvation is all that we
need? Think about it for a moment…Why
did God give us this great volume of words if it is that simple?There is more to the story on Noah than just
we will have our same old same old life going on as usual.Noah was warned of God that there a flood
coming and to get ready for the flood by building a craft that would save all
that would choose to hear the preaching of Noah.Yes that is correct; Noah was not just a
carpenter boat builder or a zoo keeper, but he preacher also a preacher of
righteousness.To those that saw what
Noah was doing and heard what he had to say, he looked very foolish, and chose
not believe what he was saying, after all no one had ever seen rain or a flood
before. It didn’t make it any less true, Noah believe it was going to rain and
a flood was coming, because God said it.By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with
fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the
world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith. (Heb.11:7) It
did not matter to Noah if it had never rained before or that those around him
mocked, God said the rain was coming and a flood would destroy all that was not
in the ark. He believed and will receive a crown of righteousness for his
faith.Those that were disobedient to
the message and refused to hear the word of God were stuck outside the door,
crying for mercy, yet the door was shut.We think that Noah was the only righteous man around, why was it then
that Jesus went to hell when he was crucified and preached to those that were
disobedient in the days of Noah, while the ark was being built? (1Pet. 3:20)
Jesus
came to earth the first time in mercy and showed us the way, he order his
kingdom to be establish to be set up like God has planned, not with
condemnation. And in mercy shall the throne be established: and he shall sit
upon it in truth in the tabernacle of David, judging, and seeking judgment, and
hasting righteousness. (Isa. 16:5)The
word of God all by its will convict the hearts of men and they will either hear
the words of life or not and suffer the consequences.If we are to be that kingdom then we too must
have mercy upon all, those who are not believers and those who say they
are.I for one have not seen the book of
life; it will not even be open till Jesus has reigned on the earth for a
thousand years, when all the dead shall rise. So who am I to judge or be judged
of another man’s conscience.Jesus told
Pilate that his kingdom was not of the Roman Empire world, that if it was then
his servants would fight, but his kingdom was not for back there. His kingdom
is yet to be established and if we do not have mercy that can be seen we will
never see that kingdom. This does not mean it will not come, only we will not
see it, comparing that to what Jesus said about being born again, if you are
not you cannot see the kingdom of God.At this moment in time the call is still out to whom so ever will let
him come and drink of the waters of life freely, but that work is almost
done.And with mercy, knowing the terror
of the Lord we persuade men as Noah did, that the flood is going to come on all
those that are disobedient to God’s word, believer and unbeliever alike.Also Paul said, "Whom we preach, warning
every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man
perfect in Christ Jesus:” (2Cor. 5:11; Col1:28)
The
world will hate us and what will be hard to believe the Christian world will
hate us too, as our Lord was despised and rejected of me, the Jews of Jesus day
and the Romans which took his life are the example of what it will be like when
Jesus comes the second time.The
religious leaders of our day will be the same way; they will not receive the
word of truth and esteemed it as foolishness.They have already made their own rules and regulation, as the Jews in
the messiah’s day made a law saying if any man that comes saying he is the son
of God he must be put to death.Christian’s of today do the same and place the name of false prophet on
anyone who would dare say that God has shown them the times and the seasons
when our Lord will return.They kill
them with the words of their mouth, they is no mercy.When Jesus leaves the throne of mercy there
will be no time for repentance, every man will receive the works done in this
flesh, whether good or evil.And there
will be those there who will say, we have done all these works in your name,
and the King will say sorry I never knew you.For a sweet merciful Saviour those are hard words. I ask you today to
have the bowels of mercy as God has, maybe you will obtain mercy and will not
be condemn for unbelief.The Lord bless
and keep you and lead you in the path of righteousness for his name sake.In Jesus name Amen.
