Episode 12 - Mercy

[00:00:08] Speaker A: Good afternoon. My name's Pastor Peter and this is my wife Sherry. We are Eyes to See Ministries International, a teaching ministry and we're here in New Oxford, Pennsylvania. We do a teaching every Wednesday at 4pm we started out to look at Jesus letters to the seven churches. We went through some basic biblical principles. Today we are going to take a look at a set of scriptures in the Gospel of John. But before we do that, I'm going to open in prayer and I'm going to give you a prelude to that. So Father, we thank you that you sent the Word and healed them all. You sent the Word and he brought truth and grace. The law came by Moses and grace and truth came by Jesus Christ that we can rely on the way, the truth and the life. But it is a very straight path as the Word says. So Father, as I speak these scriptures and they go forth, let them prick us in our hearts. And I thank you now that your word never returns empty. It always accomplishes that which you send it forth. So we thank you now in advance that as this Word goes forward, hearts will be changed, hearts will become soft, pliable in your hands because you are the potter and we are the clay and we rest in that truth. So we thank you for your faithfulness even when we are not faithful, which we will see in the Scriptures today. And we pray in Jesus name. Amen. We're going to go and begin in the Gospel of John, chapter 7, the last verse 53, and run through chapter 8 through verse 11. Now this is, this is the woman caught in adultery in one of the courtyards in the temple. But before that you need to have an understanding and I'm going to give you a brief outline as a prelude. So beginning in chapter 7 verses 1 through 13, Jesus is with his brothers and they are going to attend the the feast of tabernacles. And they're a little bit sarcastic here with Jesus. Basically his own brothers are in disbelief. They don't believe who he is. And that's important to understand that his own family is in disbelief before he goes to speak where he's going to speak. So the feast of Tabernacles was a feast commemorating the post Exodus journey of of God's people out of Egypt. When they wandered in the desert, they were living in tents or tabernacles under God's care. And that's important to understand. They are under God's care. And then in verses 14 through 24, Jesus is gonna walk into the temple and he's begin to teach. And one of the things that he's gonna tell the audience is my doctrine and is not my own, but his, who sent me? Now, I want you to remember John 17:3, where Jesus is praying to his Father and he says, and this is eternal life, Father, that they know you, the one true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you sent, whom you sent. They're going to accuse him of not having a witness that he's speaking on his own. And he is going to try to get them to understand that the witness is the Father. Now, moving on through verses 25 through 36, Jesus is going to speak clearly that he's been sent by the Father. And then we're going to come from 37 to 39 verses where this is the last day of the feast of tabernacles. And we're going to see in verses 40 through 52 that Israel is divided over Christ at this point. So who is he? The crowd's going to start asking themselves. And you'll see if you read through these verses, that at this point, God's people are divided about who Jesus actually is. And then we come to verse 53 to close out chapter 7 and the first 11 verses in chapter 8. So I will read those, and then we'll have a bit of a commentary on them. The woman caught in adultery, beginning with chapter 7, verse 53. This is from the new King James Version. And everyone went to his own house. This is after the tabernacle. So they all dispersed. But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Now, early in the morning, he came again into the temple, and all the people came to him. And he sat down and taught them. Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, they said to him, teacher, this woman was caught in adultery in the very act. Now, Moses in the law commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do you say? This they said, testing him, that they might have something of which to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with his finger as though he did not hear. So when they continued asking him, he raised himself up and said to them, he who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first. And again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. Then those that heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest, even to the last. And Jesus was left alone. And the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus has raised himself and saw no one but the woman, he said to her woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you? She said, no one, Lord. And Jesus said to her, neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more. Now in these 12 verses, there's a lot of biblical principles we have to look at. But I want to start out. You have three people groups here. You have the religious leaders, you have the God's people supposedly, and you have Jesus and this woman. So these people are right. Under the law of Moses she should be condemned to death. However, there are several things happening here. Their motive is nothing to do with this woman and they bring her out in a shameful condition in front of everybody. And I can just imagine them throwing her down on the ground. So there's a large group of people there and the religious leaders, the ones who were in charge, are going to try to trap Jesus. Now the trap is if they don't stone her and he tells them not to, then he's going against the law of Moses. And, and later he would tell his disciples, I did not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill the law. Now if he lets them kill her, he's going to break Roman law. So that's the trap, the snare of the devil. So this woman is there. The very religious leaders that are going to use the law of Moses neglected to bring the man that was caught in adultery, if she really was caught in adultery. So they're in violation of what I would say they're cherry picking a part of the law to try to trap Jesus. Now there's several scriptures in the Bible where it claims, and Jesus says that they were going to kill him, murder him for envy, jealousy over him. Pontius Pilate even said that. It's recorded in the Bible that Pilate knew that for their envy they were going to condemn this man even though he found nothing wrong with him. So here's a woman caught in adultery in the very act, in a very shameful position in front of everybody. These are probably her neighbors. So not only has she committed a sin, they but she's been caught. Now repentance is more than just sorrowful conviction. And Jesus is going to challenge her to repent at the end of this. But I want you to understand here that Jesus is taking a very different outlook. What he does is he says, has no one condemned you? Now these people are convicted. He asks them a very simple question. If there's anybody here without sin, let that person cast the first stone. Now the only person here that fits that bill is Jesus himself. And yet he's not going to condemn her. For God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten Son, that whosoever would believe in him would not perish, but have everlasting life. This is Christ's first coming. He did not come to condemn the world. He came to try to save it. And we're going to look at that in pretty much detail here. So he's not there to condemn this woman or anyone else. He's to offer a free life of salvation, a life more abundantly, more fruitful through Himself to abide in him and his words in you, and you in Him. So he says the last verse. When she says, now, notice her response is no, Lord. She just acknowledged him as Lord, just like the thief on the cross. And Jesus says, neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more. So I don't want to really rattle chains today, but over and over again, Jesus is gonna tell people when they got healed and your salvation, if you're truly saved, that healing is complete. It's for you the wholeness and completion of healing within you. Your heart, your soul, your mind, your physical body, your spirit. So divine healing is the children's bread and is a right that we have under the new covenant. And we'll look at some of this in a minute. But. So he tells her not to sin anymore. Now, several things. I want to take a look at the 10 Commandments for a minute, but I want you to understand something. God cannot lie. The key verses include Numbers 23 and 19, Titus 1 and 2, and Hebrews 6:18. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God. Second Timothy 3:16. Now, the Ten Commandments can be found in Exodus chapter 20, verses 1 through 26. And they're repeated in Deuteronomy 5:1, 26. This outlines God's laws or instructions for his people. And God says, you shall not commit adultery. This is one of the ten commandments, Exodus 20:14, and again repeated in Deuteronomy 5:18. These ten commandments were written by God in stone. So God himself wrote these in stone and gave to his prophet Moses to bring down to his people. Remember, God himself wrote these commandments. If you remember back when we looked in the first chapter of the book of Revelation, the very first verse says, the revelation is revealed from Jesus Christ about himself. He is the Word of God. So God wrote the ten Commandments in stone. Now, just for perspective, in the Book of Jeremiah, chapter 31, verse 33, it is written, now this is a prophetic word given to the prophet by God. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after the after those days, says the lord, I will put my law in their hearts and write it in their minds and write it on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. We'll see in a minute who he's talking about. So God himself gave his people the Ten Commandments, the law in stone, and now he's going to write them on their minds and put them in their hearts later. This is under the new covenant. Hebrews 8:10 is going to be a repeat by that Author of Jeremiah 31:33, except for the first word, Hebrew. In verse 33 it starts, But. And then in Hebrews 8:10 it begins, for so for this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord, I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And then In Hebrews chapter 10:16, the writer is speaking of Christ's death perfects the sanctified. And I want to repeat that Christ's death perfects the sanctified. There is salvation and there is a sanctification process, which is the ministry of the Holy spirit. So Hebrews 10:16, this is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them. The Bible is also going to talk about stony hearts and stiff necks of pride. So from this 10 commandments, keep in mind that this is Exodus 21, and God spoke all these words saying, and then he's going to speak the Ten Commandments to Moses. The word God is the Hebrew 4, 3, 0, Elohim. It's the plural of H433, Elohim. So God is speaking. This is for there are three that bear record in heaven. The Father, the Word, and the Holy spirit. And these three are 1. All through the first five books of the Bible, which is referred to as the Pentateuch, of which the the Ten Commandments falls in almost exclusively. When the word God is used, it's Elohim. It's the plural. It's not until later on when you start to see even Elohim or the Hebrew people themselves giving God names based on what he's doing, like God is our healer, or God is our Redeemer. God spoke these words. Now, these ten commandments, of which this woman is in violation of, and there's witnesses. They're recorded here and written by God himself. Such obedience was required in order to remain in the promised land. Deuteronomy 4:1 14. So remember this, they needed to be obedient to God's law to remain in the promised Land. Now I have a question for you and for tonight I just want you to research this on your own. If obedience was required to stay in the promised land, to enter the promised land and stay in it, I wonder if obedience to the requirements to the new covenant under our salvation, I wonder if that obedience is still recovered, required to stay and enter into the kingdom of God. Just some food for thought through the Word of God, because this is an issue that has the Church greatly divided. And one of these days I'm going to lay out in detail the argument for both of these perspectives or interpretations of God's word for you to go into the Bible yourself, pray before you read and ask for God's understanding through the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth, so that you can make your own decision and you don't have to rely on anybody behind the pulpit in any church that you go to. We have that ability. You are the tabernacle, the tent, remember the Feast of Tabernacles. You are the tabernacle, the you are the temple of the Holy Spirit. So the Ten Commandments summarize God's moral law, which has not been abolished, and describe their obligations both to God and others. To God and others. To love the Lord thy God with all your heart, all your soul and all your mind, and to love thy your neighbors as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the prophets and the law. Love. Love conquers all. God is love. Love never fails. When we get back to this woman, we're going to see, or you should have a better understanding of why Jesus does what he does. Because God, when God responds to a situation, it is always going to be much more and much higher than we can comprehend. Even your own prayers, when they're answered and you see them initially, I expect there to come more from God because I just know from my own experiential knowledge and my relationship with him that I can't think like Him. His ways are higher. So even though I'm asking Him something and my own mind has come to grips with why I'm doing that, the answers always come in phases. And when I go back in hindsight, and this is why we need the journal, he is always leading me into his image, step by step with what I believe he knows I can handle at that period of my understanding. So I don't get in his way and prevent him from doing what he wants to do in all of us. And I don't want to rely on my own man made traditions within anything that I do. I want to rely on him. Lean not on your own understanding and lean on him and he'll direct your steps. Trust in the Lord with all your heart. That's that place where the law was going to be written into. So the law demands an inner spiritual righteousness that is expressed in outward justice and holiness. I want to repeat that because we're going to go back and see how Jesus handles the this situation with the woman in the courtyard in front of these people. The law of God demands an inner spiritual righteousness, right standing with God that is expressed in outward justice and holiness. This will happen through the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of holiness. In the Gospel of Matthew, chapter five, the very first set of verses, when Jesus, this is referred to as the Sermon on the Mount, he's going to speak. It says that he goes up on the mount and when he gets situated, his disciples come. There's a large crowd there. And Jesus starts to speak what we call the Beatitudes. One of those Beatitudes, he said, blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. Jesus also told the followers, the people following him, the crowd. I did not desire sacrifice, I desired mercy. He told the scribes to go learn what that meant. And yet they were right there with the word of God and he had to send them away over and over again. Jesus sent the unbelief away to deal with the person that he needed to deal with. That's exactly what he does in this courtyard. He clears the unbelief out in their own law. If there's anyone here without sin, let them cast the first stone. And it says they left the oldest to the youngest. Now he's there alone with this woman, probably scantily clothed, because these Pharisees caught her in the act and they want to make a show of her. They have no love, no compassion and no mercy for this poor person. They're going to make a public display of another human being to try to trap Christ out of envy, jealousy. Now how much does that grieve me when I see that in the body of Christ, [00:26:46] Speaker B: the shame. [00:26:50] Speaker A: So he who is without sin. You just heard the law of Moses. This is God's law, written in stone. And now Jesus, the word of God, who came with grace and truth, does not come to condemn her. Now why are we having this discussion tonight? Because we're in The Book of Revelation. We just learned about the church at Ephesus. They left, not lost, they left their first love. The first commandment. We're going to see here, the first commandment in action and how that can cover for this woman through grace and mercy and God's loving kindness. He's going to offer her something other than the condition she's in. But he clears the courtyard of unbelief. Now, it's important that you understand these words must not be taken as justification for refusing to condemn sin within the church. That's not what this is about. Or for treating lightly the moral failure of professed Christians. These words must not be taken as justification for. For refusing to condemn sin within the church or for treating lightly the moral failure of professed Christians. I once took up a pew seat in a church for several years and the predominant sin that was evident, visible within that church was people living in sin, living together, unmarried, in a sinful relationship. And I never heard that preached from behind the pulpit. Or for treating lightly the moral failure of professed Christians. Professed Christians so to do. So to treat lightly moral failure distorts the Bible's the word of God's attitude towards sin among God's people. We would be distorting that. Any distortion of the word of God is distorting God's will and purpose. Paul would write later to the church in Corinth, And some are of Paul and some Apollos and some Cephas. Is Christ divided? Is Christ divided? You know, in the first century church people were enamored at how united the church was. Now they mock us over the division that we are. We can't even agree on whether God created men to be men and women to be women. No. Now the true church should agree with that, the true remnant. But the professed church. The professed church can't. So two things here. Number one, the church's conduct towards sinners outside the church who have had little chance to respond to God's grace in Christ and its conduct toward those within the church who sin and do not obey Christ are two different situations. God judges the outside world and the church is responsible for judging itself. Now, I can tell you what will happen because I've already heard it. Somebody gets up and gives a message and somebody within the church brings correction through the Scripture. And you will see that person get in the flesh, come unhinged, and they can't handle that. And the first thing that you'll hear is, don't judge me. We're not to judge. Well, we are. The church is responsible to judge itself. Now there are ways to do this because biblical examples, we are given a step by step instruction on how to do this. And it needs to be done in love, but it definitely needs to be done. It has to be done. And if you're in leadership in the church and you're not doing this, you are responsible for leading an entire flock. If they're listening to you, over the cliff and into the pit of hell. That's why let not many masters be among you. The church's conduct towards sinners outside the church who have little chance, have had little chance to respond to God's grace in Christ and its conduct towards those within the church who sin and do not obey Christ are two different situations. So two things here, sub points. Why do you think the church has been commissioned through the Great Commission to go preach the Gospel? So that these very people who are going to be judged by God and are under God's wrath don't find themselves in hell. That they have had an opportunity to hear the word of God. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. If sin is allowed within the church, if that was allowed in there and not dealt with that small crack that that door was open is going to bust wide open. And the devil's going to have a heyday in that church. Because what will happen is people will become divided, they'll become offended. Even those that realize their sin won't be able to handle that in a righteous way because anger will rise up. And now the devil's going to have that whole assembly by the throat. So if we look and we'll see this in the future, in the book of Revelation, there are churches that are being judged by Christ. He's evaluating and he's going to tell them what they're doing. Good. One church isn't doing anything good. I mean, they're following the way of Balaam and the Nicolaitans, which we'll get into when we get into that church. But there are some people, there's a very small remnant within that assembly that have not followed this. And those Christ says to strengthen themselves so that they can finish the race once again. We have to finish the race. Now point number two, Scripture teaches that sins committed by those within the church must not be tolerated. Revelation 2, 20. Scripture, not Peter Scripture teaches that sins committed by those within the church must not be tolerated. Evidently there's consequences for sin. Now one of the things I want to talk about is the sin of adultery. And we're going to get into that. In a way, King David committed adultery, and then he tried to hide that. He committed murder and took a true prophet, not somebody operating in the gift of prophecy, a true prophet of God that heard directly from God to go to David because sin wasn't supposed to be allowed. And what happened? David repented. We have Psalm 51. If you are living in a lifestyle of sin and you're a believer, I would greatly recommend you go read that and make it personal. That is true repentance. But one thing you must remember is adultery is such a serious sin to God. Abomination, marriage, defilement of the marriage bed, that there are severe consequences that come upon David and his family even after he repents. That family is going to be under these consequences, and they're horrific. Scripture teaches that sins committed by those within the church must not be tolerated, but ought to be sharply rebuked and exposed. Excuse me. Rebuked and exposed. Once more, rebuked and exposed. Now, I'm not going to do this, but the last survey that I read said that we are inundated with so much knowledge today that the average human being needs to hear something 21 times before it registers. So I went back into the first report that I heard where I needed to hear it three times. However, faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. We prayed for the Holy Spirit and God's faithfulness to His Word, so we can rely on greater power other than ourselves. So sin must be sharply rebuked and exposed. That's Luke 17:3, 1st Corinthians 5, 1:13, 2 Corinthians 2:6, 8, Ephesians 5:11, 2 Timothy 4, 2 Titus 1:13, Titus 2:15 and Revelation 3:19, just to name a few. Revelation 2:20. I'm only going to read several of these. This is Jesus speaking. Nevertheless, I have a few things against you. Because you allow that woman, Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce my servants to commit sexual immorality and eat things, things sacrificed to idols. The rebuke by Christ as he's evaluating this Church is that they allow, they tolerate her. Luke 17:3. Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him. And if he repents, forgive him. Rebuke and repent. First Corinthians 5:1 13. This is part of it. But it is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you. And such sexual immorality as is not even named among the Gentiles, that a man has his father's wife for what have I to do with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside, but those who are outside God judges. Therefore, put away from yourselves the evil person. Put them away. Now we still have to show them love. But how many times, I wonder, does this happen within the church? And when it doesn't get rebuked and dealt with, I have to wonder, what is the motive behind that person that's in charge for not doing what they should be doing under God's instructions and his commandments? Because they're outside of God's will and they're in leadership? And what would happen if somebody within that assembly brought that sin to the attention of the leadership after they went and dealt with this person individually and then with one another, one other person, maybe this is that attempt? What would happen if that leader said, don't worry about it, I'll take care of it and nothing ever gets done? What would be the motives that person's outside of God's will? I would imagine that that church is a spiritually dead church. The Holy Spirit. Is the Holy Spirit going to move the Spirit of holiness within that congregation? Maybe on some people, maybe within some lives. But as a group, do we see the manifestation of God's signs, wonders and miracles happening within that church? And if not, why now? It doesn't have to be sin. It could be a lack of teaching and a lack of understanding. There was a Baptist preacher who went to seminars. Name was Randy Clark. I was listening to one of his teachings, and he said when he first came out of school, all he knew was what he learned in seminary. And then as he grew in his personal relationship with Christ and he studied the Bible and prayed, he grew in spiritual maturity away from what he learned in the theological seminary and actually got to the point where he resigned because he knew what was the writing on the wall. One of his friends had been basically fired from another Baptist church because the gifts of the Holy Spirit were moving in that church. [00:42:52] Speaker B: More than one, more than one friend got fired. [00:43:00] Speaker A: Paul tells Timothy in second Timothy 4:2 Preach the word, be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all long suffering and teaching. There's a Bible verse that says, we're to have patience with long suffering and joyfulness through our long suffering. Titus 2:15. Speak these things, Exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no one despise you. Revelation 3:19. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent all of these scriptures, except, well, 3:19 in Revelation, comes in the middle of this, comes with Christ's evaluation of his church. That's what he's doing. He's exhorting. This is management 101. You should always, when you meet with somebody, go over what they're doing good first, and not just deal with the bad things. With Ephesus, it's interesting because he tells them what they've done good, and then he tells them the really bad thing they've done. They've let their first love. But he comes back and gives one more good thing. I think that's just his mercy on their ears and on their hearts because of what they were being condemned for. Now, if my timekeeper is accurate, I think I have about 9 1/2 minutes left. [00:44:52] Speaker B: 15. [00:44:53] Speaker A: 15. You know, when you get to that 15 mark, you can stretch that beyond that at that point. So in chapter 8, verse 11, neither do I condemn you. Very important. I can preach a message where I can teach somebody the very same words out of the Bible, and I can either do it in love or I can bring condemnation. The Pharisees, the religious establishment, wants to condemn this woman to death. And their motive is wrong. They're only using a part of the Mosaic Law. And yet when she's alone with Christ, he deals with her compassionately and very simply. He doesn't spend all night with her. Once she acknowledges that he's Lord. Notice what he says at the end. Neither do I. Jesus words reflect. They reflect his redemptive love for the lost. I quoted John 3:16 earlier and is placed in direct contrast to the unloving attitude of the Pharisees or the religious establishment. They're operating in jealousy or envy. They're losing their authority. They're actually going to. Caiaphas is going to say later, it's better for one person to die to save the nation. Well, in reality, he prophesied correctly. He did. There will be a last remnant of. Of the Jewish people that come into the kingdom during the tribulation. Christ will gather them up and what will he do? He'll send two witnesses and 144 virgins, young virgins. That's all he's going to need. The world's going to hear the witnesses for three and a half years are going to preach the gospel and they're going to be hated. But they're under God's protection. The devil cannot touch them. This is important. This is exactly why Sheri and I, before we go into the missionary field, we say God, is it your will for me to go now? Because I've seen this protection. After three and a half years, these people which hate God, kill them. They're going to kill the two witnesses and leave them in the street for three days and party and they celebrate. No one's left to condemn me. And then they're going to watch them rise up and they'll be caught up in the clouds. Now, I know there's people that don't believe this, but there's going to be a catching up in the clouds of the church. And if you go all the way back in the Gospel or in the book of Acts, you'll see Jesus was raptured. When the apostles, the disciples are looking at him, go up, the two angels are going to say, this same Jesus that you say that left, you will come back in the same manner. The response of the Pharisees, the religious establishment, to this woman was, was condemnation and judgment of death. That's the response. If I wanted to be religious and I wanted to discount the first and great commandment and every other commandment and instruction given to me by God, who is love. And remember, he chastises those that he loves. So his chastisement is to keep us from the wrath. That's why that's the love of God. We as a believer, a true disciple of Christ, a true convert, a true saved person, will be spared from the wrath of God. That's the whole purpose of Christ's death, was to spare us from the wrath, to save us from our sins and to give us life and life more abundantly here on earth and in eternity. Remember the definition of eternity. It had no beginning and it has no end. So we today, as we breathe and we live, are in eternity. We're in a part of eternity. Jesus. Response. Lord and Savior, Lord of Lords, King of Kings, Lamb of God, slain before the foundation of the world. Messiah who didn't come to condemn. His response is kindness, forgiveness and the offer of a new life. And here's the big if. If she leaves her sin, adultery, he tells her when she leaves, go now, I don't condemn you. Go now and sin no more, sin no more. Now, before people start turning off the station on that statement, if you believe that God's gift of salvation is free and that you have been forgiven because Christ took all sins, there's not one sin he didn't take at the cross when he said it was finished. Father, it is finished. I did what you sent me to do when it was finished. If you believe that Salvation was a free gift that you didn't have to earn it, or that there's nothing that you can do to earn that. Why don't you believe that repentance is also a free gift from God? In the book of Galatians, in chapter five, adultery is also dealt with by Paul. He talks about the works of the flesh, of which, if you're living in these, you will not see, you'll not enter the kingdom of God. And then he gives us the fruit of the spirit or Juicy Fruit, I heard. By the way, I love Juicy Fruit gum. That's my favorite gum. [00:52:44] Speaker B: And juji fruit. [00:52:46] Speaker A: So what would be the purpose of repentance if it didn't go hand in hand with my salvation and forgiveness? And when the church is raptured, we will have. We will be judged at that point. That's when our rewards will be given out. So I know people are going to say, well, gee, Pete, because I'm going after my rewards right now, and I repent when I sin for those. Well, is that the best heartfelt motive you could have for that event that's going to occur? Is what I would say, challenge you? So let's look at the last two points. I have a point and Sherry has a point number one. It is a misuse of this passage to use these words of Jesus to suggest that he looks casually at the sin of adultery and the untold heartbreak is it causes for both adults and children. Now, I'm reminded right now by the Holy Spirit of a personal testimony. I was in church one time, part of the ministry team, the prayer team. And a gentleman came up for prayer and he limped, could hardly walk. When he came up to me, I asked him. I didn't assume that he wanted his foot healed or his ankle or his leg. I asked him what did he want me to join with him and ask Christ from our heart. From a heartfelt plea, a request of him of Jesus. And the man started to weep. Now, I had already asked him his name, and I told him my name. And he said, peter, I committed adultery. I destroyed my family. I broke my wife's heart. Our marriage is a mess and my children are suffering greatly. And I want you to join me and ask God to please heal their hearts. Because of me, he never asked for the physical healing. And I hugged him and we wept together for what seemed like an eternity. But after I prayed, and I don't remember what it was because I know it was the Holy Spirit speaking through me, he started to walk away. And I said, what about your ankle? And he said, well, it's being held together by a lot of pins. And I said, if God can heal a heart, don't you think he could heal an ankle? Now, I already knew at that point God was going to heal him because of his request. Remember when God asked Solomon he could have anything, and Solomon said, I want an understanding heart to discern good and evil so that I can govern the good people that are your good people. Because nobody can govern God's people but God. That guy fell into that. I just got done studying those scriptures, and in my heart, that man just qualified for something else. That's just what I felt in the spirit. And I told him I was going to humble myself and kneel down before the Lord. And when I got down, I started to pray. And I commanded those pins to shoot out of his ankle and his ankle to be healed. And it felt like bbs shooting into my hand. And when that happens, I don't tell them what I feel. I asked them if they felt anything, and he said, wow, it was the darndest thing. It felt like something shooting out of my ankle like a machine gun. And I said to him, God just healed you. So he limped away, left the church, and about five minutes later came running in the front door, ran up to the altar, threw his arms around me, slamming his foot on the floor and said, I'm healed. I'm healed. God also removed the grief from him. And that's God. That's the love of God. Okay? It's a terrible sin. All sin is bad. It's an abomination to God. This thing destroys many people. Sexual sin is one of the worst, is. Well, I'm just going to say read the Bible because I want my wife to have an opportunity to speak. Speak. Lastly, point number two, what Jesus offers this woman is God's gift of salvation and a way out of her sin life from coming out under the wrath of God. His condemnation awaits her if she refuses to repent and enter into the kingdom of God. If she doesn't repent, she will still be under God. So Jesus gave her a choice right then and now. I'm going to let my wife close with her statement and she can close us in prayer. [00:58:53] Speaker B: Yes. Well, I just. You were talking about when correction was being brought to someone and it wasn't received well. And whenever a correction isn't given, you're in error. And when correction isn't received, you're in error. And you know error will continue to increase if it's not fixed if it's not changed. So when you, when you take a look at this, the fact that the, you know, if you have a pastor that has taught something wrong or in the case that you were, you were speaking of, we had people that were living together and having sex together without being married people, you know, pastor knew it, never said anything, never brought any corrections. So what happens? You know, people just assume, oh well, you know, obviously it's okay. So more and more people that will increase within the church because of the fact it wasn't corrected. [01:00:06] Speaker A: Yes. [01:00:07] Speaker B: So. So whether it's received or it's not given, you're still in error. And error will not corrected, will increase. You know, it's just like when the sin, if you're, when sin is not repented of, you are bound to repeat it. And with each time of the repetition, it becomes easier and easier to do until you are in a place of a hardened heart. So correction when you're in error is just. It's vital. It's vital. [01:00:44] Speaker A: The Bible talks about there's different phases that we can go through if we continue in sin. Now God gave all of us a conscience. That's how we have some understanding of right and wrong before we're saved. But there's a scripture that talks about a weakened conscience. And if I continue, my conscience will become defiled. And then lastly, I can't think of the name, the term off the top of my head, but what am I trying to come up with here for conscience? It's not reprobate, but God later. [01:01:32] Speaker B: Seared. [01:01:33] Speaker A: Seared. That's the word I was looking for. [01:01:35] Speaker B: Yeah, your conscience becomes seared. You know, the Lord and I talked about this because of something that had happened in the church. Church that we were in. And he's the one that brought this to my attention. He said, this is what you're seeing take place. There's error and it's not being corrected. And so that's why you're seeing more and more and more of it, you know, but yeah, it's, it's really important not only to give it. When you, when you know that there is somebody in error, it's our responsibility to bring that correction. And it's also our responsibility to receive it when it's given to us. [01:02:14] Speaker A: Yes. And if we don't do that, God [01:02:17] Speaker B: will not be mocked. [01:02:17] Speaker A: Then we're also contributing to their weak and defiled and then onto their seared. And God will turn those people over to the reprobate mind at some point and to Me, the fear of the Lord is in me. Says, how responsible am I at that point because I let this happen? If that would be the case, I wouldn't want. Because we're going to stand before Christ and we're going to have all this revealed. [01:02:48] Speaker B: Yeah. Even Paul said, I have no blood on my hands because I brought the whole gospel. [01:02:55] Speaker A: Yep, the whole gospel. So just one last statement. I was sent to Zambia in 2023, in March. And the very first message that I had to preach was at the main church in the city of Lusaka. And then we were going to travel to 11 other churches in 11 other days. And the message was on salvation, forgiveness, and repentance. But when I faced that main church, that was the hardest message for me that I ever had to give on repentance. I mean, it was a fire and brimstone message, but it came out in love. I thought that lead pastor was going to rebuke me. And at the end of the service, the entire congregation, because the message was from God, specifically for those people, they ran to the altar, fell on their knees, weeping, crying out to Jesus. But before that happened, this is important. I heard the voice of God say, peter, come down off the pulpit, turn your back on them, and you be the first one to do what you just told them to do. Paul said, follow me as I follow Christ. And Christ said, follow me. So when I did that, it took that act from me to basically finish that. And once that happened, they became one mind and one heart as a church, and God really moved on them right then, the people and the leadership. But my point is, I thought I was going to get rebuked by that lead pastor, but he came up and he was weeping and he said, brother, thank you for doing that. So that was a difficult message. It was still given in love as God's word chastised people. But there was no condemnation there. They were convicted. They were pricked in their hearts to move. So you can't confuse different styles of preaching with. You really have to understand what condemnation is and not look at the different personalities preaching. Because I know I have been a witness to my dad and it was like John the Baptist up in his face. And then with other people, it was much different. So when we're being led by the Spirit and it is the Spirit dealing with them, that's what is important. And I'll close on that. Father, I thank you for this extra time. God, I bless this ministry here for being merciful and not turning the microphones off. When I exceeded my time limit. But we thank you, Lord, that you, those that are under your wrath, need to hear the word of God. They need to see and hear the love of Christ. So let this message go out on how Jesus had dealt with a sinner that the whole community was ready to condemn and kill. And yet Jesus offered her a new life in him, in Christ. So we thank you for your free gift of salvation. We thank you for your forgiveness. We thank you for your goodness and mercies, for they are new each day. And we thank you for your free gift of repentance. That if we truly do ask the Holy Spirit to reveal our shortcomings to us, he will. And then we have the opportunity to repent. [01:06:55] Speaker B: And. [01:06:55] Speaker A: And no, I am not the most tormented human being on the face of the earth because I believe this. I'm at peace because of what I believe, which is the truth, the peace of Christ. So thank you for your truth. God, we bless you. And let the name of Jesus be exalted above all names. Today all glory and honor be to you in Jesus name. Amen. [01:07:26] Speaker B: Holy, holy, holy Lord God Almighty. [01:07:39] Speaker A: Early in the morning [01:07:45] Speaker B: our song shall shall rise to thee Holy, holy, holy.