Drop The Stone | “Case Dismissed” Sermon

Series : Drop the Stones “Case Dismissed”

Spending the past couple of weeks looking at the story of the woman caught in
adultery, who was by all accounts of the law required to be stoned to death… Lev
20:10

We are addressing the idea of Judgement… and a call to drop the Stones.
It is unfortunate that the church has a reputation as stone throwers instead of grace
filled lovers.

“A study of people ages 16–29 in the United States found that nearly 90 percent of
respondents articulated the opinion that Christians are Judgemental.” Barna
Research

Where does that impression find its source?

We cannot blame it on the Media they only report what they see, here
and investigate.

Intentionally or unintentionally, we have communicated to the world, that
our community, is political, judgmental, oppressive, homophobic, narrow,
and fundamentalist in nature. Whether on purpose or mistakenly our tone
has become substantive.

Wayne Dyer said, “When we judge another, we do not define them, we define
yourself.”

Mother Terresa, “If we judge people, we have no time to love them.”

Week One- We see how Jesus responds when we are caught… We learn that
we can be set free from life of sin

Week Two- We learn about the hypocrisy of the Pharisees.

In this story John exposes the Pharisee’s motive. They were not really concerned
about her adultery and protecting the virtue of their community.

They wanted to trap Jesus by creating a situation where He would have to choose
between His message of forgiveness and obeying the Old Testament laws handed
down from Moses.

Just as this adulterous woman had been used by her lovers for selfish reasons, these
critics used her for their own personal agenda.

Let me just say, using someone else’s failures or mistakes to promote oneself is
unkind and immoral.

Leveraging another person’s shortcomings for personal gain diminishes trust, and
damages relationships.

The voices of critics condemn, criticize, destroy, mock, and humiliate. Their
method is to use any means available to exploit your weakness and your
failures.

We ought not be those voices that judge others by the color of their skin, the brand
names of their clothes, type of car, their accent, athletic prowess, education,
musical ability, religious background, or obvious shortcomings.

This story is not suggesting that we ignore sin and its damaging affects upon
people’s lives, but using other people as a steppingstone is offensive to God.

But as we learned last week there is help for the Hypocrite

Even if you are a hypocrite Jesus still loves you and there is help.
• We learn that hypocrisy never wins, but there is an invitation to change even
for the hypocrite.
• If we have a functioning conscience we can still express enough self awareness
to drop the stones.
• They all dropped their stones and one by one and walked away the oldest to
the youngest.

Today I want to focus Jesus words, “Neither do I condemn you.”

John 3:16-17
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever
believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

But we often leave out, “God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the
world, but to save the world through him.”

John 10:10
The thief comes only that he might steal and might kill and might destroy. I came
that they may have life, and may have it abundantly.

The harbinger of heavens heart is revealed in Jesus words, “neither do I condemn
you.”

In that face-to-face encounter, instead of stones Jesus throws mercy, grace and the
transformational power of unconditional love. “Neither do condemn you, go, and
from now on, be free from a life of sin.” JESUS LOVE SETS THAT WOMAN
FREE FROM A LIFE OF SIN.

One of the things that makes this so powerful is that it illustrates the normative
way in which Jesus works.

We don’t see this only here in John 8

Throughout the gospels, we see Jesus moving toward sinners in ways that shock
and surprise us. Jesus shows us that God isn’t trigger-happy to condemn.

• In Luke 7, When the woman of the city (likely a prostitute) poured ointment
on Jesus’s feet, and wiped them with her hair, and kissed them, the Pharisees
were repulsed, but Jesus welcomed and forgave her for her many sins.
• In Luke 19, Jesus ate with Zacchaeus the tax collector.
• As Jesus traveled and saw the crowds, he had compassion on them. He
taught them and bent down and healed their diseases (Matt. 9). Jesus stood
outside Jerusalem and wept over them.

He will not break us. He will not put us out. He was broken for us. He was put
out for us.

Carl Jung, “Condemnation does not liberate, it oppresses.”

Charles Spurgeon, “If you get condemnation out of the Gospel, you put the
condemnation into it yourselves! It is not the Gospel…”

William Tyndale said, “The Law and the Gospel are two keys. The Law is the key
that shutteth up all men under condemnation, and the Gospel is the key which
opens the door and lets them out.”

J. I. Packer, “God’s love is an exercise of his goodness toward sinners who merit
only condemnation.”

Condemnation doesn’t keep us from sinning, it robs us of our faith and confidence
in His love.

Titus- It is grace that teaches us to say no to ungodliness and yes to God.

When you are caught and are guilty nothing can be more liberating than an
expression of unconditional love. Something of a miracle transpires in a face to
face moment when you hear I don’t condemn you…

Project Rachel… Confession with priest face to face…I absolve you…( I release,
forgive, pardon you)

God didn’t send His Son to condemn but to save. Save us from the condemnation
of the law, save us from the accusations and condemnation of the devil and to save
us from ourselves.

However, on any given day we can experience the voices of the critics accusing
and condemning, they are plenteous. But from a Christian perspective the loudest
ones are the law, the devil and ourselves.

1. The Law- It can’t condemn you … Jesus fulfilled it on your behalf…
2. The Devil- don’t let the devil condemn you he has no power but what you
give him.

Colossians 2:13 “When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of
your flesh, God made you[d] alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, 14 having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us andcondemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. 15 And having disarmed
the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over
them by the cross.[e]

3. And the loudest voice of all ourselves – In my experience self-condemnation
is the worst because I can’t run away from myself.

By the way you don’t have to be an adulterer to experience the cutting edge of
condemnation.

BAG AND STONES
We condemn ourselves if:
• When we don’t feel as holy as others
• When we don’t feel as close to God as we should
• When we don’t read our bible enough
We condemn ourselves:
• When we watch and R rated movie
• When we drop the “F” bomb
• When we covet someone else’s status
• When we don’t go to church enough
• When we fail in a marriage
• When we feel we have been a failure raising our kids
• When we didn’t get that job
• When we fall of the wagon
• When we get caught
• When the enemy roars accusations

We can get so bogged down with self-condemnation we begin to make friends with
it.

But make no mistake self-condemnation poisons our soul.

“It distorts our understanding of God, erodes our ability to believe Christ’s work,
opens us to demonic manipulations and attacks, and makes us suffer
unnecessarily…”  https://patrickoben.com/danger-of-self-condemnation/

A Caveat… we are talking about dealing with condemnation today but make no
mistake if I have done something wrong— there are consequences…But
consequences and condemnation are not the same.

“Condemnation has to do with identity, but consequences have to do with
behavior.” https://phyliciamasonheimer.com/does-god-give-consequences-tohischildern/#:~: text=Condemnation%20has%20to%20do%20with,address%20both %20condemnation%20and%20consequences.

Self-Condemnation Attacks my Identity

There may be truth in Satan’s accusations. There may be truth to what I say
about myself…but we must never leave out the reality and truth of our
redemption…

None the less, Self-Condemnation is debilitating…So what is the answer?

Know that God is greater than your heart, and he knows everything…

1 John 3:20-22 “My dear children, let’s not just talk about love; let’s practice
real love. (for others and ourselves) This is the only way we’ll know we’re
living truly, living in God’s reality. It’s also the way to shut down debilitating
self-criticism, even when there is something to it. For God is greater than our
worried hearts and knows more about us than we do ourselves.”

o Remedy Number ONE- Live in Love
o Remedy Number TWO-Immerse yourself in Romans 8, read it for
days…

Romans 8 is a rhetorical masterpiece, in which Paul employs several
rhetorical devices to persuade and inspire his readers: (which I will not bore
you with today)

For our purposes today let’s look at Romans 8 as a courtroom drama, where
Paul presents a compelling case for the security and assurance of believers in
Christ.

In general elements of a courtroom setting include the accused, charges,
advocates, evidence, cross examination, closing remarks and verdict:

The accused the self- condemned is charged with, being a
failure…sinning…being a bad Christian Christian…being a loser: FILL IN THE
BLANK

PAUL BEGINS WITH AN OPENING STATEMENT- (members of the court)
Verse 1… “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ
Jesus.”

Immediately with his opening statement Paul proffers relief for any
Christians burdened and stuck living in Romans 7 under a cloud of accusation
and condemnation and begins to make the case for living in Romans 8

Now for the next 38 verses Paul makes the case… “There is therefore now no
condemnation for those in Christ”

BTW- Spoiler Alert the key witnesses are none other than the Son and Holy
Ghost and God the Father is the Judge.

Paul argues the case that we are not guilty or condemned by illustrating that the
whole of the Godhead is at work to prove a not guilty verdict and therefore there is
now no condemnation.

Paul calls on his first key witness Jesus who is our greatest advocate.

1. The Role of Jesus Christ as Witness:
a. HE ADVOCATED BY DEALING WITH SIN
b. HE ADVOCATED BY MAKING US RIGHT
o Verse 3: “For what the law was powerless to do because it was
weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the
likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering.” (people thought law make us
right and good, but it never had the power to make us right… it only showed how
wrong we were)

Jesus was sent by God in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. By
condemning sin in the flesh, Jesus fulfilled the righteous requirements of the law
on behalf of believers. Because of Christ’s sacrifice we are not condemned…

2 Cor. 5:21 “He made Christ who knew no sin to [judicially] be sin on our behalf,
so that in Him we would become the righteousness of God [that is, we would be
made acceptable to Him and placed in a right relationship with Him by His
gracious lovingkindness].”

Jesus is our advocate… backer, supporter, stand in. He did this to make us RIGHT.

HE CONDEMNED IN HIS FLESH SIN…NOT THE SINNER

c. HE ADVOCATES STILL AS OUR INTERCESSOR (Romans
8:34): “Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus
who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand
of God and is also interceding for us.”

JESUS ADVOCAY WAS NOT A ONE TIME EVENT BUT HE SITS AT
THE RIGHT HAND OF THE FATHER INTERCEDING FOR US.

Jesus not only died and was raised but also continually intercedes for believers at
the right hand of God. His intercession is a powerful assurance that we are secure
and free from condemnation.

Next Paul calls on the Holy Spirit- who provides superb evidence to the life of
God at work in us.

2. The Role of Holy Spirit as witness- witnesses that:
a. We have life and Freedom – Verse 2: “Because through Christ Jesus
the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin
and death.”
b. We have the witness that He lives in us and guides us. (Romans
8:9-11): The Spirit dwells within believers, marking them as
belonging to Christ and giving life to their mortal bodies. The
indwelling Spirit ensures that believers live according to God’s will,
which provides assurance of their standing before God.
c. The Holy Spirit Affirms Sonship—that we have a new nature
o Verse 15: “The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that
you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about
your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.'”
o Verse 16: “The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are
God’s children.”
d. Verse 26 – The Holy Spirit testifies that we are on track because
when we are weak, have a bad moment he intercedes on our
behalf.
o Verse 27: The Holy Spirit intercedes in accordance to God’s will
“And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit,
because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the
will of God.”

Two intercessors working on our behalf…The Son and The Holy
Spirit (making appeals, having side bars with the Father to ensure
the right outcome)

1. The Role of God the Father: He Is The JUDGE

But in these closing verses of Romans 8 Paul illustrates the role of God in this
case… As the Judge. However it is not difficult to see that God manifests some
Judicial Bias…

IN THAT GOD IS COMPLETELY COMMITTED TO A PARTICULAR
OUTCOME THAT NO MATTER WHAT THE ACCUSER ROARS, OR WHAT
YOU SAY OF YOURSELF TO HIM IT WILL NOT CHANGE THE
OUTCOME.

Romans 8:3 tells us it was God who sent The Son to deal with our sin problem

God the Father initiated the plan of salvation by sending His Son, an act that
underscores His love and commitment to saving humanity.

God Adopted us as His Children (Romans 8:15-16):

God adopts believers as His children, providing them with an intimate relationship
where we can address Him as “Abba, Father.” A profound assurance of our secure
position in His family.

God has Purposes and Plans for Us (Romans 8:28-30): He is committed to
bringing about our best.
o Verse 28: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of
those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
o Verse 29: “For those God foreknew, He also predestined to be
conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the
firstborn among many brothers.”

Notice there is no mention of God predestinating some to heaven and others to
hell.[2]

Rather, He predestined, He decided beforehand, not that some would receive
eternal life and others be condemned to eternal death.

What he is predestinating is that those who placed faith in Jesus Christ would be
adopted as God’s sons—would be eternally secure, would make it finally to
heaven, and would be conformed to the image of His Son.[3] Predestination has
to do with the believer’s future, not with the believer’s past.

If God gave us His best so we could be free, surely, he will continue to give us
what we need for the lesser necessities of life?

o Verse 32: “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us
all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all
things?”

God the Father is unequivocally partial.

CLOSING ARGUMENTS– Pauls asks 4 Rhetorical Questions- 1 What Questions
and 3 WHO Questions
o Verses 31-“What then shall we say in response to all these things? If
God be for us who can be against us?
o Verse 33: “Who will bring any charge against those whom God has
chosen? It is God who justifies.”
God final verdict is unchangeable… they are justified… just as if they never sinned
o Verse 34: “ Who then can condemn us Christ? Christ died for us.
Christ’s death, resurrection and ongoing intercession nullifies any condemnation
o Verse 35: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Trouble,
hardship, persecution, famine, danger, sword…overwhelming victory
is ours in Christ.’
o Verse 38-39 Is Paul’s Climatic Statement
“38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor
demons,[a] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,39 neither height nor
depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate ME from the love
of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

• THE VERDICT- NOT GUILTY

Paul begins his case with there is no condemnation and closes it with
nothing can separate us from the love of God. Perfect book ends!

It is an Open and Closed Case

In Romans 8 we see the unified and comprehensive work of the Trinity assuring
believers that they are no longer under condemnation and that we are securely
saved and loved.

Therefore, there is now no condemnation: The Case Against Us is Dismissed”
Drop the Stones

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