Today's Word Radio

Brett Meador: What does the Bible say about keeping the law? You see, those guys were sanctimonious, like she's committed adultery. Ooh, that's a big one. But does God look at those sins as big ones or little ones?

Guest (Male): On Today's Word, Pastor Brett Meador on how the Pharisees looked at sin versus what Jesus said about it.

Brett Meador: Sin is sin. And if you just told a little white lie, that's called sin. And do you remember what James chapter 2 verse 10 says? For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.

Guest (Male): John's Gospel presents a powerful encounter between Jesus, the Pharisees, and a woman caught in sin. We're able to witness Christ's wisdom in confronting hypocrisy, his mercy in offering forgiveness, and his authority as the light of the world. Coming up on Today's Word, an invitation to embrace the grace of God as Pastor Brett continues his study of John 8 verse 3.

Brett Meador: The scribes and the Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, they said unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery in the very act. Are these guys really interested in keeping the law? I think the answer is no. They're just interested in trapping or tricking Jesus. So we pick it up in verse 5. They said, Moses in the law commanded us that such should be stoned. But what sayest thou? This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down and with his finger wrote on the ground as though he heard them not.

So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. And again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had lifted up himself, he saw none but the woman. And he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? Hath no man condemned thee?

She said, no man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee. Go and sin no more. Man, you got to love this story. Um, he's just he lets her off the hook sort of. But he says, go your way and sin no more. That's not completely off the hook. Just go your way. You're free. Neither do I condemn you, Jesus says. But Brett, you know, they make a point. She committed adultery. That's one of the 10 commandments for crying out loud. Um, she should be held to that. You might say, well, Jesus is technically kind of breaking the law of Moses, isn't he?

Technically, aren't these guys right? Say she was caught in adultery. She deserves to die according to the law. But Jesus who came not to do away with the law, but to fulfill the law, how would he fulfill the law? He would fulfill the law by not breaking it himself, but also he would fulfill the law in answering the requirement for the the person who deserves the death of the law. And Jesus would die for the sins of the whole world, past, present, and future. By the way, remember the I am statements of Jesus. I think that I am the light of the world.

Jesus is sort of shining light, evidence light on this situation. I'm reminded of Psalm 119 105 that says, Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. When you become a Christian, the light of Christ is nothing but beauty and help and glory and good. But before that, that light might be that which exposes. And Jesus is doing that right here with these guys who are getting ready to stone this poor girl to death. So Jesus perfectly navigates this situation. I'll tell you why. According to the Old Testament law of Deuteronomy, those that are accusing are also the ones that are supposed to stone her to death.

Since no one was left accusing her, there's no breaking of the law. Jesus actually by getting those guys to all leave, he's already kind of fixed the problem. Now you and I know that's just the law and that falls short. But what we also know, you and I, we know that Jesus has the power to forgive sin and not condemn this woman. That's that's one of the beautiful parts of Jesus. So he not only with brilliance gets rid of the accusers and the condemners, but also with brilliance he's going to he's going to save her and forgive her.

You know, what happens to us? We deserve death. We have accuser Satan. And Jesus is going to deal with it. By the way, do you think this woman's a believer now? Do you think she's a Christian at this point? Kind of hard to say that before Jesus dies and raises from the dead, but is she a believer? I think the answer is yes. And there's two bits of evidence. First she in verse 11 she calls him Lord. I think that's evidence. But maybe even the airtight evidence is Jesus is not condemning her. Jesus says, neither do I condemn you.

Go your way and sin no more. If Jesus is not condemning you, are you saved? I believe so. There is therefore, Romans, you know, chapter 8 verse 1, there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit. Um, so, you know, be careful. I hope there's not that tendency toward legalism, thinking that you you have to stick to the law and Jesus Man, he's kind of breaking the law here. No Um, everyone in that crowd, everyone, even the Pharisees with the rocks, but even the audience that was listening, they're all sinners.

And what does the Bible say about keeping the law? You see, those guys were sanctimonious, like she's committed adultery. Ooh, that's a big one. But does God look at those sins as big ones or little ones? Oh, I think we see the results of sin can be bigger or littler, but sin is sin. And if you just told a little white lie, that's called sin. And do you remember what James chapter 2 verse 10 says? In James 2 10, for whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.

Need I remind you the 613 laws that we all could be possibly guilty of. You could keep all of these points of the law of the of the Old Testament, but if you just break one, you're guilty of the whole thing. That's what the Bible says. So this argument is really Jesus just pointing out, oh, you you Pharisees and scribes, you think you're holy. Uh, he wrote in the sand and revealing I wonder if maybe Jesus was right in one of these laws that were being broken by those guys right then and there. But the truth is if you've broken the law in one point, you're guilty of the whole thing and it's all worthy of death.

So Jesus is the one who's going to clear all this up. So you see the juxtaposition number one between grace and the law. It's a beautiful story. I love it. The second section of this chapter deals with the juxtaposition of light and darkness. We pick it up in verse 12. It says, then spake Jesus again unto them saying, I am the light of the world. He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. We looked at this as the second of uh the um I am declarations of Jesus.

Jesus declares himself here to be I am the light of the world. But here we have this contrast between light and darkness. Verse 13 says, the Pharisees therefore said unto him, thou bearest record of thyself. Thy record is not true. Oh boy. When you're telling Jesus that what he's saying is not true, is that a problem? The Pharisees, you know, they were sticking to their rules. You need a witness. You can't just be claiming it. You can't just say stuff. By the way, modern day people claiming to be Jesus and saying stuff, there's many so-called Matthew 24 in the last days verse 5, many shall come in my name saying I am the Christ and shall deceive many.

There's a lot of people that claim to have truth and speak the truth. But Jesus is the one who is the truth. One of the worst places a person can get to is when they say Jesus is not true or or what Jesus was saying is not true. It really starts to become you know, the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit when you start rejecting Jesus and what he says, that is dabbling with the unpardonable sin. You might say, well Brett, what if I rejected Jesus in the past and then I became a Christian later? Am I guilty of that blasphemy of the Holy Spirit uh and I'm going to go to hell because I rejected Jesus when I was, you know, 18 or whatever?

You'll never know if you've committed blasphemy of the Holy Spirit until you're dead. And if you really did reject Jesus and you went through your life and you ended in that state of the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, what if you rejected Jesus in the past and then you believed on him? Well, guess what? Paul the Apostle rejected Jesus, if you recall. He was against Christians and he rejected Jesus. And Paul was actually persecuting Jesus because remember Jesus knocked him off his horse. Remember that? Paul fell off his horse on the road to Damascus, blinded him and said, Paul, why do you persecute me?

That's what Paul was doing. You might say, well, that's blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. He's going to go to hell now. No, the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is answered only with what you've done in this life and and where you land, whether you blaspheme or speak against the work of the Holy Spirit, which is to uh glorify Jesus. Point to Jesus. You know, the ultimate blasphemy of the Holy Spirit was seen when those Pharisees and those guys started attributing Jesus to the devil and calling him a demon or having demons or by the power of demons.

That's the ultimate example of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. So that's kind of one of the things these guys are doing here in verse 13. So in verse 14, Jesus answered and said unto them, Though I bear record of myself, yet my record is true. For I know whence I came and whither I go. But you cannot tell whence I come and whither I go. You judge after the flesh. I judge no man. The idea is no man after the flesh. Verse 15. And yet if I judge, my judgment is true, for I am not alone, but I am the father that sent me.

It is also written in your law that the testimony of the two men is true. I am one that bears witness of myself, and the fathers that sent me beareth witness of me. So Jesus in your law needs two witnesses. I got that. I'm witnessing of myself and my father is witnessing. Now this is going to be interesting. When did the father uh bear witness of Jesus? Anybody? Yeah, at the baptism. That's pretty big, having the sky open up and God's voice booming from heaven. This is my beloved son. Like that should have been a good indicator.

Oh, okay, we got a good confirmation here that he is the son of God. Uh, but you know, some of them would not believe even that. So they're not going to really accept this. In fact, notice how they kind of turned to this sort of snarky, more derogatory type tone in verse 19. Then said they unto him, Where is thy father? Now pause for a second. We're going to find out later in this chapter, this is not Where's your dad? Like they weren't saying that. They're saying, Where is your dad, you illegitimate son? That's what they're saying.

We'll We'll show you that later on in the chapter, but there's a illegitimate reputation that Jesus had that Mary was with her, you know, as they called it, so-called virgin birth, that Jesus was born of some weird you know, adulterous affair that Mary had with some guy. Like that's their narrative, even though we know that Jesus was in fact fulfilling prophecy being born of a virgin. That's what the Bible's very clear on. But these guys they're totally In fact, let's do a little sneak look look at verse 41. Jesus said, you do the deeds of your father, then said they unto him, We be not born of fornication.

We have one father, even God. See, that's where they're saying, your your mom committed sexual sin, fornication. We're not born like you, Jesus, is what they're saying. So this is getting pretty nasty when they say, you know, in verse 19 the first part, where is thy father? That's what they're implying here, that Jesus is a illegitimate son. But he goes on in verse 19. Jesus answered, you neither know me nor my father. If you had known me, you should have known my father also. These guys were living in darkness. I mean, think about that. These are religious leaders in Jerusalem.

It makes me wonder, how many religious leaders today don't really even know God? They claim to know God, but Jesus calls them out and says, man, you you don't know me nor do you know my father. But they were the religious guys of the day. I I get concerned when I see the emphasis on what churches and so-called, you know, ministries and stuff. There's a lot of good ones out there, but there's also a lot of really bad ones. You know, if you got time to preach and talk about stuff, what do you talk about?

What what are you mostly dealing with? Um, I've noticed how much there's a tendency for the church to talk about their finances or their It's all about community. It's not all about community. Uh, community is wonderful, part of church, but it's a very small part of it. What about being a good leader? Or how much do you hear sermons about how you are doing, how you are feeling? You you you It's all about the Christian and how we feel and you're enough and you're good enough and And then the diminishing of Jesus. Well, Jesus didn't do this and Jesus didn't do that.

And pretty soon it becomes this wacko bunch of information that sounds really motivational, sounds really encouraging. I I just wonder, would Jesus even recognize some of the churches and the topical teachings that some churches do? There's some topics I think need to be brought back into the church, things like being born again, things like repenting of your sin, things like heaven and hell, and things like making a decision about Jesus Christ and accepting Christ as your savior. And then, you know, just teach the Bible. You know, if you read the Bible carefully, it's not all about you you you.

And it's And as it turns out, it's not all about community. It's all about community. Nope, it's not. It's all about you're a sinner and you need to repent of your sin. And if you want community, just wait for heaven. Heaven's going to be great when it comes to community. I'll tell you. But um sadly, you know, these guys they were the religious leaders, but they were so misguided. They didn't know Jesus and they didn't know the father in heaven. And Jesus calls them out on that. Man, I hope that doesn't happen to I I I hope more and more churches will get back to the book, back to the word of God.

We pray for that for a lot of churches to get back to the Bible. Well, verse 20, these words spake Jesus in the treasury as he taught in the temple. And no man laid hands on him, for his hour was not yet come. Oh, they wanted to. We've seen that thus far in the story. They wanted to lay hands on him and kill him. But this cryptic phrase we bump into all the time, but his hour had not yet come. Time period set by the father where Jesus would die on the cross, that was a set time, the hour.

The word hour in this text in the Bible doesn't mean a legitimate 60-minute time period, but it means there's coming an hour more figure of speech. There's a time that is set, another hour. And there's all kinds of things like that, the day of the Lord, the day of Christ. These are time periods where Jesus has delineated in the Bible. But one of the hours, the most important hour was when Christ would die on the cross. But this was not his hour. You know, it 's interesting about this idea of Jesus knowing his hour would not yet come.

Uh, there's a time for everything, I think. As it turns out, if the Lord has need of you to do something, you can be sure it's time to do that and you'll be safe doing it and God wants you to do that. I wonder if you are aware of the hour of the Lord for you. Is this the hour for you to witness to that person at work? And I love how Jesus just he knows the hour that was set before him, his schedule that the father set before him. And I I think the the mature Christian is really sensitive to that.

Lord, show me when uh and how I'm supposed to do stuff. And by the way, when when you know that your hour's not yet come, you're you're safe. Jesus was not going to be hurt by these guys because his hour not yet come. Some people take that a little far and say, well, I can do whatever I I could go skydiving and I don't have to worry because I have an appointed time the Lord an hour. And I I could say, yeah, maybe that's after you skydive. That 'll be your hour. Uh, maybe that'll be times up.

Uh, I've done that. I've I've jumped out of an airplane skydiving and uh I kind of thought, man, was I testing God in that moment? But it is interesting how uh people we can move boldly and confidently knowing that no one can mess with you until that time, that hour. Jesus demonstrates that here kind of beautifully. So we have number one grace and light versus 1 through 11. Now we have light and darkness compared in verses 12 through 20. And now we're going to get into life and death uh versus 21 through 30. So verse 21, then said Jesus again unto them, I go my way and you shall seek me and shall die in your sins.

Whither I go, you cannot come. Then said the Jews, will he kill himself? Because he saith, whither I go, you cannot come. Why would they think that he was talking about suicide on this? Um, the answer their view uh was simply this. Their view was if you committed suicide, that was a guarantee that you're going to hell. That's kind of an interesting thing. So when Jesus is saying, you know, if I die, you guys aren't going to be able to go with me because that's what they wrongly thought. They're so off course here. Here's a big question.

If someone kills himself, do they automatically go to hell? Uh, this is a tricky subject because I don't want to encourage suicide. There's nothing encouragable about suicide. You You might say, well, my hour has come and the Lord told me, nope, um that's not legitimate. Uh, the Lord has an appointment and then it's time for you to make that appointment with death. Yeah, but what if my life is miserable? Like have you seen in Canada the euthanasia that they're dealing like killing people just because they're not happy with their life. Uh, it's kind of a thing that's happening around the world and it's it's getting more common, but suicide is is sinful.

It is a sin. It's very self-centered. It's a selfish act. It leaves people hurting and sad, but it's not the answer to any problem. Suicide is never that. But I have to say, suicide There's only one unpardonable sin. Is that suicide? No, we just talked about that. That's the the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit speaking against the work of the Spirit, rejecting Christ, calling him a demon. That's the ultimate sin that will be unforgivable. So that's kind of an important thing that they had it wrong here, but that's what they're thinking Jesus is talking about.

You say, well, Jesus kind of committed suicide because he willingly went to the cross. No. He willingly let them take his life and he laid down his life for other people. That's a different thing. Uh, very important to understand. Uh, so keep in mind you know, one of the misnomers is is you people think, well, what if I become a Christian, confess my sins, then I'm forgiven and I'm going to go to heaven. But there's this misnomer thinking that if you do something sinful and then you don't confess that sin Like for example, let's say after church you're you're good.

We'd Sunday night worship, you just took communion, you confessed your sins, and you get out of the parking lot and then you think an evil thought in your head. And you you meditate on that evil thought. You think, I I want to kill that person. And you're driving down the freeway and then you get run over by a semi. And you die. Some people will say, yeah, you're going to hell cuz you confessed your sins at Sunday night, but you sinned. And before you had a chance to confess your sins, you're going to go to hell cuz you did that sinful thing in the parking lot on the way out.

That's not accurate biblical understanding. What sins did Jesus die for when he died on the cross? All of them. The Bible Hebrews tells us over and over, he died once for all sin, past, present, future sin. And he blotted out your transgressions, past, present, future. This is the beauty of the grace of God. That's where suicide is not the unpardonable sin. Even if it's the last act you do, God forbid, but if it's the last act you do, uh is that the unpardonable sin? By the way, there's there's a psychological argument about suicide. Is that even really psychologically sound?

You know, the the person is given embedded in their being like by by God to preserve your life, not to take it. Um, so the psychology that's really in question even you know, of of a person who is able to take their life. So you know, you might say, well Brett, that means I can just party down then. Uh, I could just sin and um the Lord forgives me for my sins, past, present, future. Man, I'm going to go home and do some meth on the way home from church tonight. Uh, well, you shouldn't do that.

Why? Well, there's a lot of reasons, but I'll just give you the biblical reason that's really important. Uh, Romans 6 1 through 4. What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin and let grace abound? Um, God forbid. How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein? Know ye not that so many of us were baptized into Jesus Christ, were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the father, even so we should walk in newness of life.

The point is we as Christians we should say, we're going to walk in that resurrected newness of life. That's our goal. That's what we're shooting for. Um, does anybody have this down perfect by the way? Not even close, not at one person. Mother Teresa, Billy Graham, none of them had this all down. Uh, but the goal is to walk in the newness of life. But when you fail, when you sin, when you make mistakes in this life, good news, the Lord is able to forgive you. So we're saved by grace through faith, Ephesians 2 8.

Jesus says, you will die in your sin because they're rejecting the one who takes away their sin. That's what we're reading about here, uh which is so important.

Guest (Male): Pastor Brett Meador with an important reminder from John chapter 8 that a newness of life is ours by allowing God to guide and empower us on Today's Word. I hope you'll stick around as Pastor Brett will join me in a moment to talk about something new coming this fall. But first our teacher Brett Meador is the senior pastor of Atheist Creek Church just outside of Portland, Oregon. Each day Pastor Brett will bring you a verse by verse study of God's word. If you've missed any portion of our time today, you can find all of his messages online at todayswordradio.com.

That's todayswordradio.com. Also I want to mention that if you'd like to share how these messages have impacted you, we'd love to hear from you. And we have a toll-free number that we invite you to call and share your story. Here's the number, 1 877 772 1113. That's 877 772 1113. Or go to todayswordradio.com. All right, Pastor Brett has joined me now. Brett, you're a pastor and have been at Atheist Creek Church in the Portland, Oregon area for almost 30 years, but you're also doing something new in August, aren't you?

Brett Meador: Yes, uh we are. We're going to be bringing in a big crusade in downtown Portland at the Mota Center where the Portland Trail Blazers play. And uh we're just going to invite as many unsaved people to the Mota Center as we can. And I'm going to share the Gospel. It's going to be uh fun. We're going to have um some great music with Chris Tomlin and Zach Williams and other artists that are going to come and contribute to just the fun feel. But everything's really going to be centered on the sharing of the Gospel and an invitation for people to come to know Christ and really repent of their sins and be saved by God's grace.

That's our goal.

Guest (Male): Oh, thank you, Brett. And for more information about this PDX crusade again at the Mota Center in Portland, Oregon August 2nd and 3rd of this year, go to todayswordradio.com. You can just click the link PDX crusade. Again todayswordradio.com and click the link PDX crusade. Well, that's all the time we have. I hope you can be back as we conclude our look at John chapter 8 and hear how Jesus made it clear he is God.

Brett Meador: If you're saying Jesus was just a good guy or a prophet or the brother of Michael the Archangel or whatever you're saying, that's just way off of doctrine. This is where one of the essential doctrines of the Christian faith is so supported in the Bible. If you don't believe Jesus is God incarnate, you're outside of the pale of orthodoxy of Christian faith.

Guest (Male): Today's Word with Pastor Brett Meador is an outreach of Atheist Creek Church in West Linn, Oregon.